“Not a bit of it! I don’t regret Thornaby, and I was not sacrificed, as Jane was! No, and I won’t let James make a burnt offering of Fanny either: that you may depend on! But, on the other hand, my dear, I won’t—if I can prevent it—let her throw herself away on the first fortune-hunter who makes up to her!”

“But I am persuaded he is no such thing!” expostulated Selina. “He is possessed of considerable estates in Berkshire, and he comes of a most distinguished family. I believe he can trace his lineage back for hundreds of years!”

“Well, I know nothing about his ancestors, but from all I have been able to discover the present family is distinguished for profligacy, and nothing else! This man’s reputation is bad; and, according to James, his father was far from respectable; while as for his uncle, he,after having been expelled from Eton, seems to have gone his length in every extravagant folly until he was packed off to India, under orders never to show his face to his family again! As for the estates, George says they are grossly encumbered. And if you think all these circumstances make Stacy Calverleigh an eligible suitor—”

“Oh, no, no, no!” Selina cried distressfully. “Only I can’t believe that poor Mr Calverleigh—and it always seems to me most unjust to visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, and when it comes to an uncle positively wicked! Such engaging manners, and feels just as he ought, besides showing delicacy of mind, and—oh, I don’t believe it!”

“Well, it was what George said, and you must allow that he is not at all prudish, as James is.” She paused, her brow wrinkled in thought. “And I should suppose, wouldn’t you, that a libertine must be engaging?”