"Magic talisman! And if I had money and position?"
"My objections would be no less strong."
"Your code puzzles me. You would welcome as a son-in-law a man who stole openly the widow's mite, while I, who harass none but the predatory rich, must dwell in the outland? Rank injustice!"
"You couldn't take care of her."
"Yes, I could. With but little effort I could make these two hands as honest as the day is long."
"I have my doubts," smiling a little.
"Suppose, for the sake of an argument, suppose Fortune accepted me?"
Mrs. Chedsoye's good humor returned. She knew her daughter tolerably well; the child had a horror of men. "Poor Horace! Do you build upon that?"
"Less, perhaps, than upon my own bright invention. My suit, then, to be brief, is rejected?"
"Emphatically. I have spoken."