ing personally of this Mr. Winter, who might indeed be an
incarnation of snobbery; on the other hand, Cecil Morphew had his
defects, and even to a liberal-minded parent might not recommend
himself as a son-in-law. Then again, the young lady herself, now about
six and twenty, must surely have been influenced by some other motive
than respect for her parents' wishes, in thus protracting her
engagement with a lover who had a secure, though modest, income. Was it
not conceivable that she inherited something of the paternal spirit?
or, at all events, that her feelings had not quite the warmth that
Morphew imagined?

'I'm glad it's over,' he replied cordially. 'Now begins a new life for
you.'

'But eight years--eight years of waiting----'

'Hang it, what is your age? Thirty! Why, you're only just old enough.
No man ought to marry before thirty.'

Morphew interrupted vehemently.

'That's all rot! Excuse me; I can't help it. A man ought to marry when
he's urged to it by his nature, and as soon as he finds the right
woman. If I had married eight years ago----.' He broke off with an
angry gesture, misery in his eyes. 'You don't believe that humbug,
Rolfe; you repeat it just to console me. There's little consolation, I
can assure you. I was two and twenty; she, nineteen. Mature man and
woman; and we longed for each other. Nothing but harm could come of
waiting year after year, wretched both of us.'

'I confess,' said Harvey, 'I don't quite see why she waited after
twenty-one.'

'Because she is a good, gentle girl, and could not bear to make her
father and mother unhappy. The blame is all theirs--mean, shallow,
grovelling souls!'

'What about her mother now?'

'Oh, she was never so obstinate as the old jackass. She'll have little
enough to live upon, and we shall soon arrange things with her somehow.
Is it credible that human beings can be so senseless? For years now,
their means have been growing less and less, just because the snobbish
idiot _would_ keep up appearances. If he had lived a little longer, the
widow would have had practically no income at all. Of course, she
shared in the folly, and I'm only sorry she won't suffer more for it.
They didn't enjoy their lives--never have done. They lived in miserable
slavery to the opinion of their fellow-snobs. You remember that story
about the flowers at their silver wedding: two hundred pounds--just
because Mrs. Somebody spent as much--when they couldn't really afford
tw