very beautiful, my lord inquired if she was married. "No, my lord," says
the planter, "but I believe I shall dispose of her soon after she comes
to me." "How old is your daughter?" said my lord. "Why, my lord,"
replied the planter, "she is twenty-two years of age." Then my lord
asked my son if he should like that young lady for a wife. "Nothing, my
lord," said Thomas, "could lay a greater obligation upon me than your
lordship's providing me with a wife."

"Now, sir," said my lord to the planter, "what do you say to a match
between this young gentleman and your daughter? Their ages are
agreeable, and if you can, or will, give her more fortune than he has,
his shall be augmented. You partly know his substance, by the money I
have now paid you."

This generous proposal of my lord's pleased the planter to a great
degree, and he declared to my lord that he thought nothing could be a
greater favour done him, for two reasons; one of which was, that he was
certain the young gentleman was as good as he appeared, because he had
taken for his plantation so large a sum of money as none but a gentleman
could pay. The next reason was, that this marriage, to be performed as
soon as my son arrived there, would be a great satisfaction to his wife,
whose favourite the daughter was. "For," added he, "my wife will not
only have the pleasure of seeing her daughter settled on what was our
own hereditary estate, but also see her married to a man of substance,
without the danger of crossing the seas to be matched to a person equal
to herself."

"Pray, sir," said my lord, "let me hear what fortune you are willing to
give with your daughter; you have but two children, and I know you must
be rich." "Why, my lord," replied the planter, "there is no denying
that; but you must remember I have a son as well as a daughter to
provide for, and he I intend to turn into the mercantile way as soon as
he arrives safe from Virginia. I have, my lord," continued he, "a very
large stock-in-trade there, as warehouses of tobacco, &c., lodged in the
custom-houses of the ports, to the value of L7000, to which I will add
L3000 in money, and I hope you will look upon that as a very competent
estate; and when the young gentleman's fortune is joined to that, I
believe he will be the richest man in the whole American colonies of his
age."

It was then considered between my lord and Thomas, that no woman with a
quarter of that fortune would venture herself over to