“Do you know who that was?” he said, when he sat down again. “It was Mr. Salmon talking from Manchester. I would have told him you were here, but there was no time.”
“It is about David that I have come to see you,” Dinah began, somewhat nervously. “You must not tell anybody yet, but we are engaged.”
Her brother-in-law raised his eyebrows. “You don’t say so!” he exclaimed. “Why, I thought that Ma——”
“Yes, Ma and Pa are both against it,” she hastened to explain. “That is the trouble. But I have quite made up my mind not to have Mr. Finkelstein or any other snuffy old creature they may choose to rake up for me. I am going to marry the man I love, and that is David. Oh, I love him so much, Mike—awfully much! I feel I shall do something desperate if anything happens to prevent us from marrying.”
She spoke quickly, and evidently meant what she said. Mike puckered up his brow, and having obtained the requisite permission, lit a cigar.
“It’s a pity,” he said between the puffs. “Couldn’t you place your affections on somebody more reliable than Salmon? I don’t say he’s not a nice lad—in fact, I rather like him myself; but he is not steady, he doesn’t stick to his business. I should like to see you comfortably married, Di, but to somebody with more backbone than David Salmon.”
“I know he is not a saint,” she answered eagerly. “I don’t want him to be. I couldn’t stand a paragon of perfection for more than a week. But he is not bad, Mike. You have no idea how good-hearted he really is. And he has promised me not to bet or gamble any more. Oh, I’ll make him stick to his business when we are married; you don’t know what a tremendous influence I have over him.”
“H’m!” Mike grunted, and scratched the back of his head. “Well, what do you want me to do?”
“I want you to give him a lift,” she pleaded earnestly; “to put him in a position that will enable him to marry me with the consent of my parents. I wouldn’t ask you to help us if you were not such a thoroughly good fellow, Mike. You give away such large sums in charity, that I thought you wouldn’t mind going in for a little of that charity which begins at home. You offered to take David into partnership when he married, you know.”
“Ah, yes, but that was a different matter. If he had married Celia Franks he would have had her money to invest. I withdrew my offer directly the girl so foolishly threw away her fortune. You cannot expect me to take him into partnership if he hasn’t a farthing to put into the business—now, can you, Dinah?”