But before he could have replied, she resumed,—
"Well, Sir, Hazel is very pretty"——
"It is Hazel, then? Would you like her to be made more distinctly yours, Miss Éloise?"
"Oh, dear, no, Sir, thank you. That isn't it at all. Hazel is in love."
"Indeed!"
"She is in love with Vane, a boy of Mr. Marlboro's: you may have seen him; he is here a good deal,—by stealth: and they want to be married. But Mr. Marlboro' is their terror, he may put an end to everything, and they are afraid, and—and—could you buy Vane, Mr. St. George?"
"I could, Miss Changarnier."
"And you will, then?" cried Éloise, springing up.
"If Mr. Marlboro' will sell him."
"Won't he?"