"
"I desist. But sleep on what I have said. Remember that I am in your
father's place, that I--your aunt and I--are very anxious about you."
He took my hand, seeming as perplexed as I am myself. He looked
affectionate enough, but so futile.
So I came away heartsick. It's useless to argue with Judge Baker. He's a
plebeian from his thick shoe soles to his thin hair; but he's honest. And
yet--if he had been less ponderously precise--he might have said: "Why,
really, I don't exactly know. Mr. Winship is a well-to-do man. It has been
years since I knew, but I can ascertain and--"
Or he might just have told the plain truth--that Father has a large
Western farm. Englishmen think all Western folks are rich. Why, I believe
Meg Van Dam would dower me if I were to marry Strathay. I could make it
worth her while. It wouldn't be the first arrangement of that sort in New
York, either.
If only Strathay had seen me once more, no power on earth could have
prevented an avowal; and marriage with a peer of England would have given
me a station befitting my beauty.
But perhaps it's not too late. Strathay may not heed his cousin.
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