“I’m afraid you’ve been too hasty,” she said. “The girl of whom, I suppose, you are thinking, doesn’t possess the moral principles which an educated man should demand.”
“What? Amy’s moral principles! Who has anything to say against them?”
“I won’t say a word against the girl herself, but her father, as you know, is a freethinker.”
“I shall be proud to be related to a man who can think freely, without considering his material interests.”
“Well, let’s leave him out of the question; you are forgetting, my dear Frithiof, that you are already bound elsewhere.”
“What? Do you mean....”
“Yes; you have played with Louisa’s heart.”
“Are you talking of cousin Louisa?”
“I am. Haven’t you looked upon yourselves as fiancés since your earliest childhood? Don’t you realise that she has put all her faith and trust in you?”
“It’s you who have played with us, driven us together, not I!” answered the son.