"He was opposed to my marriage. He would have stopped it if he could, but there I got the better of him. When he found that he was too late he treated me with coldness. He never liked me."
"By Jove! I don't think he's had much reason," said Nicholas, laughing boisterously.
"He'll regret not having treated me with more attention. I can thwart all his plans and make his life very uncomfortable."
"I'll trust you to do that, mother. You've got spunk enough."
"Don't say 'spunk,' Nicholas."
"What shall I say, then?"
"Resolution—firmness."
"It's all the same."
"There is a choice in words. Remember, my dear boy, I want you to be a refined and cultivated gentleman."
"Well, I can be, now you're rich. But I say, mother, what are you going to do? You ain't going to stick down in this dull place all your life, are you?"