"All perfectly proper," said Lady Dashwood, "but—oh, May—it's so unspeakably dreary and desolating."
"Much older than he is?" asked May softly, with an emphasis on "much."
"Very much younger," said Lady Dashwood. "Only eighteen!"
"Not nice then?" asked May again softly.
"Not anything—except pretty—and"—here Lady Dashwood had a strident bitterness in her voice—"and—she has a mother."
"Ah!" said May.
"You know Lady Belinda Scott?" asked Lady Dashwood.
May Dashwood moved her head in assent. "Not having enough money for everything one wants is the root of all evil?" she said imitating somebody.
"Belinda exactly! And all that you and I believe worth having in life—is no more to her—than to—to a monkey up a tree!"
Mrs. Dashwood spoke thoughtfully. "We've come from monkeys and Lady Belinda thinks a great deal of her ancestry."