'It is certain to. Let me see—you are twenty I think?'
'Twenty, yes. No use calling myself any younger for the next ten years.'
'Well, and I am five-and-twenty, possessed of a moderate share of good looks, have a little money, the entrée to good society, and splendid prospects.'
'Your elephant isn't dead, is he, cousin?'
'Oh, I'm not trumpeting, I'm only pleading my own cause, Aggie. And I know that our union would be—nay, but I shall say will be—a very happy one. And what is more, dear cousin, and what may appeal to you as a sensible girl, your father would not be averse to our marriage.'
'Did you ask him?'
'No. That is—well, I didn't quite ask him, but I seem to feel that he wouldn't object.'
'And I suppose you think this is the correct way of wooing a young girl and gaming her affections, do you?'
'A sensible girl, yes.'
'But I'm not a sensible girl, and I wouldn't be a sensible girl for all the world. Sensible girls went out long ago with crinoline and that sort of thing. Probably there was a time when, if a man wanted to marry the daughter, he began by making love to the father. But that sort of thing is quite out of date.'