My father was able to gratify all his ambitions but one. He was eaten up with the desire to move in good society, and this he was never able to achieve. His dying wish was that I should live in those circles which he knew only....
Lady Frederick.
Across the counter?
Captain Montgomerie.
Precisely. But my poor father was a little ignorant in these matters. To him one lord was as good as another. He thought a Marquess a finer man than an Earl, and a Viscount than a Baron. He would never have understood that a penniless Irish baronet might go into better society than many a belted earl.
Lady Frederick.
And what is the application of this?
Captain Montgomerie.
I wanted to explain to you one of the reasons which emboldened me last night to make you a proposal of marriage.
Lady Frederick.