"'A handsome, graceless, penniless younger son? What dowager in her senses would approve of such a man?'
"'He cannot help being a younger son and having no money,' I said.
"'No; he cannot help it. A man cannot help being born blind or lame, I suppose; but then he does not expect to fare the same as a man who can walk and see.'
"'It is not a just world,' I said gravely; and again Lady Agnes laughed.
"'Yes, Ulric ought at least to have been a prince,' she said; 'there is now only one resource for him.'
"'What is that?' I asked.
"'He has no money, and he cannot make money. Military fame is very empty; but he could, at least, marry some one who has money.'
"And Lady Agnes, who, I believe, had a decided liking for him, looked sharply at me.
"'Why can he never make money?' I asked.
"'It is not the habit of the Studleighs: they have a reckless fashion of spending, but I do not know that they are capable of making money. Captain Ulric is a soldier, and we all know how empty is fame.'