"I know two people who will miss you."
"I d—don't know one."
"Two, I assure you—Miss Clifford and myself. Come, Mr. Fitzroy, I will not beat about the bush. I am afraid you are mortified, and I must say, justly mortified, at the coolness my father has shown to you. But I assure you that it is not from any disrespect to you personally."
"Oh, indeed!" said Percy, ironically.
"No; quite the reverse—he is afraid of you."
"That is a g—g—good joke."
"No; let me explain. Fathers are curious people. If they are ever so disinterested in their general conduct, they are sure to be a little mercenary for their children. Now you know Miss Clifford is a beauty who would adorn Clifford Hall, and an heiress whose money would purchase certain properties that join ours. You understand?"
"Yes," said the little man, starting up in great wrath. "I understand, and it's a—bom—inable. I th—thought you were my friend, and a m—man of h—honor."
"So I am, and that is why I warn you in time. If you quarrel with Miss Clifford, and leave this place in a pet, just see what risks we both run, you and I. My father will be always at me, and I shall not be able to insist on your prior claim; he will say you have abandoned it. Julia will take the huff, and you know beautiful women will do strange things—mad things—when once pique enters their hearts. She might turn round and marry me."
"You forget, sir, you are a man of honor."