'And on no other terms, mother?'
'On no other terms,' said she.
'Oh, mercy, mother! mercy! you know not what you do. I could not live without her; I should die without her.'
'Better die then!' exclaimed my mother, with an expression of ineffable scorn, and losing for the first time her self-possession; 'better die than marry like that.'
'She is my very life now, mother.'
'Have I not said you had better die then? On no other terms will I go on those sands. But I tell you frankly what I think about this matter. I think that you absurdly exaggerate the effect the knowledge of her father's crime will have upon the girl.'
'No, no; I do not. Mercy, dear mother, mercy! I am your only child.'
'That is the very reason why you, who may some day be the heir of one of the first houses in England, must never marry Winifred Wynne.'
'But I don't want to be heir of the Aylwins; I don't want my uncle's property,' I retorted. 'Nor do I want the other bauble prizes of the Aylwins.'
'Providence has taken Frank, and says you must stand where you stand,' replied my mother solemnly. 'You may even some day, should Cyril be childless, succeed to the earldom, and then what an alliance would this be!'