"She is to be married—a very romantic marriage too—to a young portrait painter, who is rich in talent, but has no money."
"Well, I hope he is worthy of her. Miss Dearborn has money enough for both."
"Her aunt, too—Mrs. Sheldon—is to be married."
"What, she?" laughed Paul. "Why, she must be almost sixty."
"Don't let her hear that you have said that, or she will never forgive you."
"But she is that, isn't she?"
"She is perhaps fifty or over."
"And who is the happy man?" asked Paul, smiling.
"Major Ashton."
As she pronounced his name there was a sudden exclamation from the lady whom Paul had brought home with him.