"Let that idea sink in, Marbury. Sir Edward Parkington is considering settling here—and marrying—with your permission and a fitting competence. But Rousby Hall? There is not money enough won across the card tables, in all Maryland, to buy it,—and I have no other source of revenue.... I reckon, the girl herself will be sufficient; if I can win her, I will be content. Afterward, with father's generosity, we can consider Rousby Hall. And the girl is a beauty—ah, here she comes!—God, what a figure!"
"Whither away, Sir Edward?" she asked, seeing that he wore riding boots.
"No whither," he said. "I have just returned—your father and I were inspecting the fields."
"You are a guest after his own heart!" she laughed. "Are you really interested, or is it chargeable to good manners?"
"I am really interested—and one can learn much from your father."
"Yes, that they can," she said enthusiastically. "None in the Colony is better qualified from actual experience."
"And experience is what I want," he said. "You would not believe me, the other evening, that I am thinking seriously of making Maryland my home."
"Of course, not!" she answered.
"But I am in earnest," he insisted.