“Burrell! You take my breath away! Burrell! The man who has a bank in Threadneedle Street?”
“The same.”
“Good gracious, Elizabeth! You have made all our fortunes! You noble girl! I did not know he was thinking of you.”
“He was waiting for me. Destiny, Roland. But he is a noble-hearted man, and he loves me and I intend to be a good wife to him. I do indeed. He is going to make a great settlement on me, and I shall have an income of my own from it––all my own, to do what I like with.”
“Elizabeth, dear, I always have loved you better than anything else in the world. You will not forget me now, will you, dear?”
“Why, Roland, I thought of you when I accepted Mr. Burrell. When I am married, Roland, I shall manage things for you as you wish them, I daresay. The man loves me so much that I could get not the half, but the whole of his kingdom from him.”
“You are the dearest, noblest sister in the world.”
“I could not bear to go to sleep without making you as happy as myself. Now, Roland, there is something you must not do, and that is, have any love nonsense with Denas Penelles. At Burrell Court you will meet rich girls and girls of good 39 birth, and your only chance is in a rich marriage––you know it is, Roland.”
“Oh, I do not quite think that, Elizabeth.”
“Roland, you know it. How many situations have you had and lost? If Mr. Burrell gave you a desk in his bank to-morrow, you would hand back its key before my wedding-day.”