"Whom then did you mean?" the aunt asked, with an expression of concern in her tones.
"Why, Mr. Perkins, to be sure."
The aunt shook her head.
"I am afraid, Margaretta, that Mr. Perkins is a man of few principles, but thoroughly selfish ones."
"How strangely you talk, aunt! Why, he is any thing but a selfish man. I am sure he is the most gentlemanly, thoughtful, and polite man that visits here. He is much more attentive to others, in company, than Mr. Fielding; and that, I am sure, indicates a kinder regard for others."
"Not always, Margaretta. It may sometimes indicate a cold-hearted, calm assurance, assumed for selfish ends; while its opposite may be from a natural reserve or timidity of character."
"But you don't mean to say, surely, that Mr. Perkins is such a one as you intimate?"
"If I am correct in my observation, he is all that I have insinuated. In a word, he is, in my opinion, a mere money-hunter."
"I am sure, aunt, he is not so constant in his attentions as he was some time, ago; and, if he were merely a money-hunter, he would not, of course, abate those attentions."
"No—not unless he had discovered a richer prize."