"But," he said as if in self-justification, "a man in my lord's position must marry, and 'tis usually an heiress; the thing is done every day; many might have expected Rose to do it sooner, before it came to openly making a bargain of it."
Susannah Chressham tilted her parasol and turned keen eyes on his half-ashamed face.
"Would you have cared to marry a stranger, Marius, because she had a hundred thousand pounds to her dowry, and her father had paid your debts?"
"I am not the Earl," said he, wincing.
"But had you been——"
He interrupted.
"Had I been, Susannah, maybe I had not so wasted my fortunes that I had need to mend them in this way; take it as you will, my lord is a rake and a prodigal; why, Beau Lyndwood is the most conspicuous name in town."
"My lord," she answered warmly, "hath lived as his father before him, and ye have no cause to speak; your romance lies open to you—my lord has paid, and with the price he gets you can save yourself from my lord's sins."
Marius answered in a soft troubled voice.
"Do not blame me, cousin, 'tis not entirely for me that he does this——"