“How's that nephew of mine? Send him over and we'll bring him up a Yankee boy. He's no Englishman.
“We are all well, and everybody sends love to everybody. MAUDE.
“P. S. Father didn't lose anything on the check. The bank paid the money back to him.”
* * * * * * *
Aunt Ella kept her promise to the Captain and the part of Maude's letter which concerned the check was read to him. He improved his opportunity by asking Florence to be his wife.
“My father was greatly pleased with you and will welcome you as a daughter.”
“Whether my father will welcome you as a son is the question,” said Florence. “My father is a very wealthy man. I know the conventionalities and requirements of English life, and although my love for you is not dependent upon your having or not having a fortune, I cannot become a burden to you, or dependent upon your family, as I might become if my father refused his consent.”
“You American girls are intensely practical.”
“Are not Englishmen equally so when they pay court to American heiresses? I don't mean you, of course.”
“My father and brothers will allow me twenty-five hundred pounds a year, about twelve thousand dollars of your money.”