"But vulgar. And Gerty?"
"The dearest girl in the world."
Mrs. Fane again lifted her eyebrows.
"I confess I don't care for people of that sort."
"Do you care for any one but yourself?" asked Laura bitterly.
"I care for Minnie, and a little for Walter," said Mrs. Fane, "but the ordinary human being does not seem worthy of being liked."
"You condemn the world as though you were its judge and not its denizen," said Laura, with a curled lip and flashing eyes. "Julia, you were always a hard woman. Your nature is like our father's."
"Quite so, and for that reason he left me most of the money. You and Frederick take after our late mother. A kind woman, but so weak! Oh, dear me," sighed Mrs. Fane; "how very weak!"
"Laura felt inclined to walk out of the room. But she knew that such behaviour would result in nothing. Mrs. Fane would show no anger, but would simply attack Laura on the subject uppermost in her mind when they again met. The subject was Laura's future, so the girl thought it best to bring the matter to an issue.
"Does all this mean that you withdraw your opposition to my marriage with Arnold?"