When the other visitors had taken their leave, I made my proposal to the old man in a humble manner. I told him that, "though I could never for a moment hope to be worthy of marriage connection with such an illustrious family, yet ... etc. etc."
When I made clear my proposal of marriage, the old man embraced me and broke out in a tumult of joy: "I am a poor man, and could never have expected such great good fortune."
That was the first and last time in his life that Kailas Babu confessed to being poor. It was also the first and last time in his life that he forgot, if only for a single moment, the ancestral dignity that belongs to the Babus of Nayanjore.
WORDS TO BE STUDIED
[landholder]. This method of forming compound words from two original English words should be studied. Compare the following words which have "land" for one of their parts: landlord, landowner, landlady, landslip, landfall. When the second word is not very closely attached to the first word, a hyphen is put between, thus land-grabber, land-shark.
[extinct]. From the Latin "stinguere," to quench. Compare distinct, instinct, extinguish, distinguish.
[cheque]. This word is the same as "check,"—only in this case the original French form has been kept. The verb to "check" came into English originally from the game of chess. In Eastern lands when the chess king was in danger the word "Shah!" was called out, and when the chess king could not move, "Shah mata!" These were corrupted into "Check!" and "Checkmate!"
[bankrupt]. This word is a curious mixture of the old French "banque" (compare bench, banquet) and the Latin "rumpere," to break (compare corrupt, disrupt). It is thus a hybrid word in modern English.
[filigree]. From two Latin words, "filum," a thread, and "granum," a grain.
[otto-of-roses]. A corruption of attar. The word is originally Arabic and Persian.