'
'That,' said Mr. Harewood, with his air of old-fashioned gallantry,
'depends on the esteem in which wealth or merit is held.'
'And station,' said Wilmet, in an undertone.
'For that, my dear, one would be a fool not to honour you and your
brother; besides, it may make you more at ease to hear that my father
was an apparitor, and I went to Oxford as a servitor, so that in
birth you have the advantage of us. Of course, I do not mean that
every one does not in the abstract prefer prosperous matches, but
John has a fair independent competence, and can afford to do as he
pleases; and, for my part, I should be very sorry if this were not
what he pleased.'
'You are so very kind, but surely if--even if--it must be such long
waiting, and you would not like that for him.'
'Let us arrive at the _if_ before we settle about the waiting,' said
Mr. Harewood. 'In truth, I have long looked on John as so much the
most sensible person in my house, that all I feel called on to do is
to hope for his success. I know both you and he will be wise enough
not to be either selfish or unselfish in the wrong place.'
Wilmet did not quite understand, but she carried away the conviction
that she need have no scruple as to the parents' cordial approbation;
and she had had her cure from yesterday's sense of want of individual
affection.
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