"After that you wouldn't mourn very much for his loss?"
"No; I don't pretend to care for him."
"He thinks you do, eh, mother?"
"Of course."
"Oh, you're a deep one, you are," said Nicholas, winking in a way to indicate his shrewd insight into his mother's motives.
"I have to be, Nicholas. There's no getting on in this world without it. But I think I shall have to leave you now."
"Then you don't mean to invite me to the wedding, mother?"
"It will be a private ceremony."
"Will Jasper be invited?"
"His father was anxious to have him at home. Indeed, I have had a great deal of trouble to prevent his sending for him, but at length I have succeeded. I know too well the danger. The boy has a great influence over his father, whose mind is weakened with his body, and I should be afraid that the match would be broken off even at the last moment if the boy got wind of our plan."