"I thought it was always the other way up, and that girls wanted delay?"
"That's only a theoretical delicacy which never means much. When a girl is engaged she likes to have the day fixed. When there's a long interval the man can do pretty much as he pleases, while the girl can do nothing except think about him. Then it sometimes turns out that when he's wanted, he's not there."
"I hope I'm not distrusted," said Gerard, with an air that showed that he was almost disposed to be offended.
"Not in the least. The women here think you the finest paladin in the world, and Miss Palliser would fly at my throat if she thought that I said a word against you. But she's in my house, you see; and I'm bound to do exactly as I should if she were my sister."
"And if she were your sister?"
"I should tell you that I couldn't approve of the engagement unless you were prepared to fix the time of your marriage. And I should ask you where you intended to live."
"Wherever she pleases. I can't go to Maule Abbey while my father lives, without his sanction."
"And he may live for the next twenty years."
"Or thirty."
"Then you are bound to decide upon something else. It's no use saying that you leave it to her. You can't leave it to her. What I mean is this, that now you are here, I think you are bound to settle something with her. Good-night, old fellow."