"Of course there is; I did not suppose that Mrs. Penton, ourselves, and that redoubtable gentleman were to compose the whole party."
"Well, if you choose to be obtuse, Mary, and then a wee bit impatient, I suppose I had better speak as plainly as possible. Mr. Earnscliffe is going!"
"Mr. Earnscliffe!" Mary's indifference had vanished. "How do you know it? He hates parties of that kind; he likes going to such places alone, or merely with another man."
"All the same, he is going to-day. Harry was by when some grand personage, meaning to compliment him, introduced him to the Cardinal, who asked him if he would like to join their party to the Catacombs to-day. Harry says that Mr. Earnscliffe did not look enchanted at the good Cardinal's condescension, yet he bowed acceptance, probably because he knew that it would be a breach of etiquette to refuse a prince of the Church. Now, is not that news worth hearing? What a reward for your goodness in consenting to go for my sake! But I have other news for you, and which you will like still better, as it may be of lasting advantage to you: Harry told me that that rich Mr. Lyne is going to marry Flora Adair!"
"Ah, Helena! is it true?" exclaimed Mary, eagerly.
"If I were to answer as I think myself, I would say, no. She evidently does not care for him, so it could only be as a bon parti that she would accept him, and that is not like Flora. Harry says, however, that Mr. Lyne is quite certain of success."
"Well, you know, Helena, that it would be the height of folly for her to reject him; she has no provision whatever; everything dies with her mother, and a petted darling as she has been could never bear the life of a governess. Penniless girls cannot afford to refuse such an offer as Mr. Lyne's, merely because they do not love in the desperate way of which, you say, Flora talks. How hard we try to persuade ourselves that that which we wish to be true is true."
"I can scarcely think Flora false."
"No, not false; I am sure she thought all that she said when you heard her speak; but that was in the abstract; when it comes to a question of choosing between wealth and position, and poverty and humiliation, what girl would rather take the latter than marry a man whom she does not love intensely? If Mr. Lyne was strikingly plain, ungentlemanly, or disagreeable in any way, it might be so; but, as it is, there are numbers of girls with fortunes who would be very glad to get the chance. What signifies the probabilities, however, if Mr. Lyne is sure of her? And of course he could not be so without some reason. How does Mr. Caulfield know it?"