the whole man.
The terrible question of sex is our obstruction."

Lady Blandish was in despair. She had no positive assurance that the
baronet would see his son; the mask put them all in the dark; but she
thought she saw in Sir Austin irritation that the offender, at least
when the opening to come and make his peace seemed to be before him,
should let days and weeks go by. She saw through the mask sufficiently
not to have any hope of his consenting to receive the couple at present;
she was sure that his equanimity was fictitious; but she pierced no
farther, or she might have started and asked herself, Is this the heart
of a woman?

The lady at last wrote to Richard. She said: "Come instantly, and come
alone." Then Richard, against his judgment, gave way. "My father is
not the man I thought him!" he exclaimed sadly, and Lucy felt his eyes
saying to her: "And you, too, are not the woman I thought you."
Nothing could the poor little heart reply but strain to his bosom and
sleeplessly pray in his arms all the night.

CHAPTER XXXV

Three weeks after Richard arrived in town, his cousin Clare was married,
under the blessings of her energetic mother, and with the approbation of
her kinsfolk, to the husband that had been expeditiously chosen for her.
The gentleman, though something more than twice the age of his bride,
had no idea of approaching senility for many long connubial years to
come. Backed by his tailor and his hairdresser, he presented no such bad
figure at the altar, and none would have thought that he was an ancient
admirer of his bride's mama, as certainly none knew he had lately
proposed for Mrs. Doria before there was any question of her daughter.
These things were secrets; and the elastic and happy appearance of Mr.
John Todhunter did not betray them at the altar. Perhaps he would rather
have married the mother. He was a man of property, well born, tolerably
well educated, and had, when Mrs. Doria rejected him for the first time,
the reputation of being a fool--which a wealthy man may have in his
youth; but as he lived on, and did not squander his money--amassed it,
on the contrary, and did not seek to go into Parliament, and did other
negative wise things, the world's opinion, as usual, veered completely
round, and John Todhunter was esteemed a shrewd, sensible man--only not
brilliant; that he was brilliant could not be said of him. In fact,
the man could hardly talk, and it was a fortunate provision