and those chaps. Altogether, I cried off, and told the governor I would
try the Colonies. And he told me that if I was such a consummate ass as to
let a good thing like that slip, I could take my little pittance and go to
the deuce as soon as ever I liked; and here I am. Some may think I acted
foolishly, but one's relatives are not always the best judges of what is
good for one, you know, though they may think they are actin' for one's
good; and what one wants to do is to do one's best in whatever position
one finds one's self in, you know, no matter what one--Hang it all! I know
what I want to say, but I can't say it. You understand, I fancy, without
me tryin' to explain."

Having tied himself up in this conversational bow-knot, Mr. Ramsay waited
to be extricated. His idea had been to convey in the most delicate and
roundabout way to Bijou that he was not the man to marry any woman for her
money, and that if he had seemed to like a certain person a good deal it
was not because she was the daughter of a rich man. To her, however, he
seemed to be posing as a conqueror of heiresses, indifferent to the pain
he might inflict upon any girl silly enough to be captivated by his good
looks and good manners,--a breaker of tacit engagements, and a wicked
worldling. So she rose very stiffly, and said that she neither knew nor
cared to know what he meant, and was obliged to leave him, and so went
away, and left him extremely puzzled and disconcerted by the behavior of
his charmer.

After this, the summer of Mr. Ramsay's discontent set in. There was
nothing that he could actually complain of in Bijou's treatment of him,
but it was plain that she had changed. She was vastly more polite than
before, but much less kind. Their intimacy seemed a thing of the past
century. It was Mr. Heathcote now who, partly from idleness, partly from a
desire to tease his friend, went constantly to the Browns', and showed