"Mamma, Mr. Saul has been speaking to me again."
"Has he, my dear? You cannot, of course, help it if he chooses to speak to you, but he ought to know that it is very foolish. It must end in his having to leave us."
"That is what he says, mamma. He says he must go away unless—"
"Unless what?"
"Unless I will consent that he shall remain here as—"
"As your accepted lover. Is that it, Fanny?"
"Yes, mamma."
"Then he must go, I suppose. What else can any of us say? I shall be sorry both for his sake and for your papa's." Mrs. Clavering as she said this looked at her daughter, and saw at once that this edict on her part did not settle the difficulty. There was that in Fanny's face which showed trouble and the necessity of further explanation. "Is not that what you think yourself, my dear?" Mrs. Clavering asked.
"I should be very sorry if he had to leave the parish on my account."
"We all shall feel that, dearest; but what can we do? I presume you don't wish him to remain as your lover?"