"Not from himself, Anna;—though he was the messenger. Come and sit here, my dear,—close to me. Have you ever thought, Anna, that it would be good for you to be married?"
"No, mamma; why should I?" But that surely was a lie! How often had she thought that it would be good to be married to Daniel Thwaite and to have done with this weary searching after rank! And now what could her mother mean? Thomas Thwaite had been there, but it was impossible that her mother should think that Daniel Thwaite would be a fit husband for her daughter. "No, mamma;—why should I?"
"It must be thought of, my dearest."
"Why now?" She could understand perfectly that there was some special cause for her mother's manner of speech.
"After all that we have gone through, we are about to succeed at last. They are willing to own everything, to give us all our rights,—on one condition."
"What condition, mamma?"
"Come nearer to me, dearest. It would not make you unhappy to think that you were going to be the wife of a man you could love?"
"No;—not if I really loved him."
"You have heard of your cousin,—the young Earl?"
"Yes, mamma;—I have heard of him."