"Yes, she has been invaluable to us."
"And that girl Paget, too; she has turned out a regular trump. I used to think her a very stiff, consequential piece of goods when I saw her at the Lawn; but, egad, she has shown herself the genuine metal all through this business. Now that's a young woman I wouldn't mind making Mrs. George Sheldon any day in the week."
"You do her too much honour," said Valentine, with an internal shiver. "Unhappily, a prior engagement will prevent Miss Paget's availing herself of so excellent an opportunity."
"It mayn't be such a very bad chance as you seem to think it, my friend," George replied, with some indignation. "Whenever the Reverend John Haygarth's estate drops in, I stand to win fifty thousand pounds. And that's not so bad for a start in life. I suppose you haven't forgotten that your wife is heir-at-law to a hundred thousand pounds?"
"No, I have not forgotten her position in relation to the Haygarth estate."
"Humph! I should rather think not. People don't generally forget that kind of thing. But you are uncommonly cool about the business."
"Yes, I have passed through a fiery furnace in which all the bullion in the Bank of England will not serve a man. That kind of ordeal upsets one's old notions as to the value of money. And, again, I have never been able to contemplate Charlotte's inheritance of that fortune as anything but a remote contingency; the business is so slow."
"Yes, but it has been going on. Affidavits have been made; the whole affair is in progress."
"I am glad to hear it. Don't think that I pretend not to value the prospect of wealth; I have only learnt to know that money is not the be-all and end-all of life. I could be very happy with my dear wife if there were no prospect of this Haygarthian inheritance; but if it does come to us, we shall, no doubt, be all the happier. The millionaire sees the world from a very pleasant point of view. I should like my dear girl to be the mistress of as fair a home as money can buy for her."
"Yes, and you'd like to have your name stand high in the statistics of Government stockholders. Don't be sentimental, Hawkehurst; that kind of thing won't wash. Thank God, we managed to save poor Tom's daughter from the fangs of my brother Phil. But you can't suppose that I am going to shut my eyes to the fact that this affair has been a very good thing for you, and that you owe your chances of a great fortune entirely to me? You don't pretend to forget that, I suppose?" said George Sheldon, with some acrimony.