"Then why don't you marry him?"
"He hasn't asked me yet," replied Olive, with attempted carelessness. "I do not even know if he loves me."
"My dear, you know well enough that he does. Why, he would give his ears to make you his wife; and it is only his scruples about this wretched engagement that makes him hold his tongue. Believe me, obedience can be carried too far, Olive, and it is absurd and wrong that you should wreck your life just because your father commands you to marry the son of an old friend of his."
"But the sealed letter, Tui!"
"Oh, that's a bogey. What evil can come to you? You have your own money, good health, and the love of a most delightful man. I should defy that letter."
"But you forget I shall lose fifty thousand pounds, dear."
"What of that?" reported the romantic Tui. "I am sure Mr. Mallow is worth paying that price for. He's a darling, I think. If you don't marry him, Olive, I'll make love to him myself--there!"
"What about Lord Aldean?"
"Lord Aldean is a donkey--a dear, sweet donkey, all the same. He is too young to know his own mind."
"Indeed, he is two or three years your senior."