But she could not escape the conversation, try as she would. The words
reached her in all their painfulness, one sentence in masculine tones,
those of her father, being repeated many times.

'I tell 'ee there shall be no such betrothal! I tell 'ee there sha'n't!
A child like her!'

She knew the subject of dispute to be herself. A cool feminine voice,
her mother's, replied:

'Have done with you, and be wise. He is willing to wait a good five or
six years before the marriage takes place, and there's not a man in the
county to compare with him.'

'It shall not be! He is over thirty. It is wickedness.'

'He is just thirty, and the best and finest man alive--a perfect match
for her.'

'He is poor!'

'But his father and elder brothers are made much of at Court--none so
constantly at the palace as they; and with her fortune, who knows? He
may be able to get a barony.'

'I believe you are in love with en yourself!'

'How can you insult me so, Thomas! And is it not monstrous for you to
talk of my wickedness when you have a like scheme in your own head? You
know you have. Some bumpkin of your own choosing--some petty gentleman
who lives down at that outlandish place of yours, Falls-Park--one of your
pot-companions' sons--'

There was an outburst of imprecation on the part of her husband in lieu
of further argument. As soon as he could utter a connected sentence he
said: 'You crow and you domineer, mistress, because you are
heiress-general here. You are in your own house; you are on your own
land. But let me tell 'ee that if I did come here to you instead of
taking you to me, it was done at the dictates of convenience merely. H---!
I'm no beggar! Ha'n't I a place of my own? Ha'n't I an avenue as
long as thine? Ha'n't I beeches that will more than match thy oaks? I
should have lived in my own quiet house and land, contented, if you had
not called me off with your airs and graces. Faith, I'll go back there;
I'll not stay with thee longer! If it had not been for our Betty I
should have gone long ago!'

After this there were no more words; but presently, hearing the sound of
a door opening and shutting below, the girl again looked from the window.
Footsteps crunched on the gravel-walk, and a shape in a drab greatcoat,
easily distinguishable as her father, withdrew from the house. He moved
to the left, and she watched him diminish down the long east front till
he had turned the corner and vanished.