“Coxcombry.”
“What do you mean precisely by a business basis?”
“I am happy to be able to state that George has made a definite offer.”
“To the girl?”
“Certainly not, Cheriton. Have you no sense of decency? And I may say that as far as it goes the offer is a tolerably good one.”
“Marriage? You are quite sure that George means marriage?”
“Yes, Cheriton, he means marriage,” said the occupant of the four-poster, with her “hanging-judge” demeanor.
“I can only say,” said Cheriton, “that such conduct is very unlike him. I yield to none, Caroline, in whole-hearted admiration of your niece, Miss Perry, considered æsthetically and as a work of nature, but you must not forget that she has not a sou, and she is of no particular family.”
The occupant of the four-poster breathed blood and fire.
“She is a Wargrave,” said she.