"He was; he came to the point with a refreshing directness worthy of a
business man, and said that he wanted to know all about you."
"And you--"
"I need not trouble you with our conversation. In view of the attentions
which his Lordship has been paying you, his cousin felt it a duty, he
intimated, to make inquiries. He did not care a button, I inferred, for
your position here, as it could not affect Lord Strathay's in England; but
he had read the newspapers with pardonable perplexity, and asked if you
were really the only daughter of a bonanza farmer. I did not feel it
necessary to enter into particulars, but informed him that your father was
rich in honesty and in the possession of a daughter good and beautiful
enough for any Lord that lives. He thanked me and said 'quite so,' as
Englishmen usually do say when they disagree with one. He added that he
would try to get the poor beggar--for so he referred to his kinsman--away
fishing.
"You will note that, in the higher social strata, the choice of
matrimonial partners has progressed beyond the personal selection so
confidently assumed by the scientists, and has become a matter for
relatives to--"
"And my only relative in New York," I said slowly, wondering how fatal was
this unexpected news, "has made it impossible for me to achieve a success
that was almost within my grasp.
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