"Wig! Madeline would not see him in a wig; nor anybody else very often, seeing the way he is going on about his profession. What are we to do about it?"
"Well. I should say, do nothing."
"And let him propose to the dear girl if he chooses to take the fancy into his head?"
"I don't see how we are to hinder him. But I have that impression of Mr. Graham that I do not think he will do anything unhandsome by us. He has some singular ideas of his own about law, and I grant you that he is plain—"
"The plainest young man I ever saw," said Lady Staveley.
"But, if I know him, he is a man of high character and much more than ordinary acquirement."
"I cannot understand Madeline," Lady Staveley went on, not caring overmuch about Felix Graham's acquirements.
"Well, my dear, I think the key to her choice is this, that she has judged not with her eyes, but with her ears, or rather with her understanding. Had she accepted Mr. Orme, I as a father should of course have been well satisfied. He is, I have no doubt, a fine young fellow, and will make a good husband some day."
"Oh, excellent!" said her ladyship; "and The Cleeve is only seven miles."
"But I must acknowledge that I cannot feel angry with Madeline."