‘I don’t think it will. I am far more likely to marry some woman for whom I have no preference, but who can serve me materially.’
‘I confess that amazes me. I know the value of money as well as you do, but I wouldn’t marry a rich woman for whom I had no preference. By Jove, no!’
‘Yes, yes. You are a consistent sentimentalist.’
‘Doomed to perpetual disappointment,’ said the other, looking disconsolately about the room.
‘Courage, my boy! I have every hope that I shall see you marry and repent.’
‘I admit the danger of that. But shall I tell you something I have observed? Each woman I fall in love with is of a higher type than the one before.’
Jasper roared irreverently, and his companion looked hurt.
‘But I am perfectly serious, I assure you. To go back only three or four years. There was the daughter of my landlady in Barham Street; well, a nice girl enough, but limited, decidedly limited.
Next came that girl at the stationer’s—you remember? She was distinctly an advance, both in mind and person. Then there was Miss Embleton; yes, I think she made again an advance. She had been at Bedford College, you know, and was really a girl of considerable attainments; morally, admirable. Afterwards—’
He paused.