“It was rather a mistake, wasn’t it?” she suggested.
“It’s always been the family tradition,” he answered. “Of course, it was absurd in our case. But then it’s just like the dear old guv’nor: buy the thing first and think about paying for it afterwards.”
She was tapping the fender with her foot. “It’s putting it coarsely,” she said with a laugh, “but I’m afraid he was banking on me.”
“You mean a rich marriage?”
She nodded.
He was leaning back in his chair, puffing rings of smoke into the air.
“Any chance of it?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Not now,” she said. “I’m in love.”
It brought him up straight.