"Cela va sans dire. It would be more to the purpose if you were to ascertain the amount of his income and the nature of his prospects--provided he has any."
"Those were points, my dear, which there was no opportunity of entering upon in the train. But had he not conceived himself to be in a position to marry, if not just yet, in the not distant future, I do not suppose he would have spoken to me as he did."
"Would you not be nearer the mark if you were to say that such 'mercenary considerations,' as I have no doubt you term them to yourself, never entered your mind?"
The Vicar coughed and proceeded to polish his spectacles with his handkerchief.
"You seem to forget," resumed Mrs. Sudlow, a little inconsequentially it might have been thought, "or, rather, you never care to remember, that Fanny is second cousin once removed to the Earl of Beaumaris. But there! I have known for years, to my sorrow, that you have not a morsel of proper pride in your composition."
The Vicar's shoulders went up deprecatingly. "My dear," he said, "if the noble Earl, your second cousin, had ever done anything for us, or had interested himself in our fortunes in any way, it might have been politic to bear the family connection in mind. But, seeing that neither he nor his daughters, the Lady Mary and the Lady Anne, care a stiver about us, it may be as well to leave the 'claims of long descent' out of the discussion."
Again Mrs. Sudlow's lips compressed themselves into a thin straight line. She felt that it had become necessary for her to shift her basis of attack. She had reserved one barbed arrow till the last. "After all, you have contrived to shuffle out of the question I put to you, which was, Who is Philip Winslade?"
"My dear, you know as well as I do that he is the only son of Mrs. Winslade, who has been a neighbour of ours for the last dozen years, and who, in addition, is a lady for whom I have the highest possible regard."
"Oh, I am quite aware that you always had a sneaking penchant for Mrs. W. She is what is vulgarly called a 'fine woman,' and I have not forgotten that your tastes always did run in that direction."
The Vicar held up his hands. "My love, you are forgetting yourself!"