“When all’s said and done is there any place in the world so comfortable as London?”
“It’s charming to think that you’re so easily satisfied.”
She watched him thoughtfully, while he sought to conceal behind a gallant smile a considerable feeling of dismay.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather break off altogether our short engagement?” she asked, suddenly.
“Nothing would induce me,” he cried, with the utmost emphasis. “Do you imagine that anything you have said makes you less precious to me? You cannot think so badly of me as to suppose that I no longer wish to marry you, because you are not rich.”
“You’re an ambitious man, and an opulent wife might have been of great use to you: a poor one can only be a drawback.”
“You pain me very much,” he answered. “I confess I think it would be wise to delay our union, but it would break my heart to put aside all thought of it.”
“Oh, I don’t think your heart is such a fragile organ as that. Let us be frank with one another. I venture to flatter myself that you did not want to marry me because of my money, but it’s obvious that a well-regulated passion is not diminished because an attractive widow has five thousand a year. It’s very comprehensible that you shouldn’t wish to marry a pauper.”
“I flatter myself on the other hand that I’m by way of being a gentleman.”
“Shall we say no more about it? Shall we forget that you murmured various things the other night which you didn’t quite mean?”