"I wish I was sure that Vernon was good enough for her."
Frank looked up quickly.
"I don't think anybody is quite good enough for Jean; but Lucas Vernon is really a deuced fine fellow."
Mr. Walkingshaw still seemed doubtful.
"A bit lazy, I'm afraid."
"I assure you he's not," said Frank. "He works, sir, like the very dickens."
"He can't sell his pictures," replied his father. "I'll never believe in an artist till he can sell what he paints."
"The difficulty for a painter is to get hold of the right man—the fellow with the money," urged Frank.
"That's a mere matter of time," said his father; "they are sure to meet sooner or later, and then the point is, has he painted anything worth selling? If Vernon can manage to prove that, I may begin to believe in him. If he's a fraud it is time the thing was stopped for Jean's sake."