“Now you are talking like a sensible woman,” he said. “Are you willing to be guided by me in how you should go on?”
She looked at him in some indecision. “Is there no way in which I can escape this inheritance?”
“None at all.”
“But if I were to disappear, which I should like very much to do—”
“I am persuaded you will not be so poor-spirited as to draw back at this juncture.”
She swallowed this, and after a moment said in a resigned voice, “What ought I to do, then?”
“I have already considered that, and I believe it will be most natural for you to take up your residence at Highnoons,” he said.
“At Highnoons! Oh, no, indeed, I had rather not!” she said, looking very much alarmed.
“Why had you rather not?” he asked.
“It would look so presumptuous in me to be residing there!”