‘It is my ward,’ she said, ‘Barbara Monypenny. I must tell you that she was left in my charge till she is twenty-six. I and her lawyers make her an allowance out of her property, which she is to get when she marries with my consent, at whatever age.’
‘May I ask how old the lady is at present?’ said Merton.
‘She is twenty-two.’
‘Your kindness in taking charge of her is not not wholly uncompensated?’
‘No, an allowance is made to me out of the estate.’
‘An allowance which ends on her marriage, if she marries with your consent?’
‘Yes, it ends then. Her uncle trusted me a deal more than he trusted Barbara. She was strange from a child. Fond of the men,’ as if that were an unusual and unbecoming form of philanthropy.
‘I see, and she being an heiress, the testator was anxious to protect her youth and innocence?’
Mrs. Nicholson merely sniffed, but the sniff was affirmative, though sarcastic.
‘Her property, I suppose, is considerable? I do not ask from impertinent curiosity, nor for exact figures. But, as a question of business, may we call the fortune considerable?’