"that if Maurice doesn't marry this girl, there--there will be an
end of us all. He _must_ marry her."

"But he doesn't love--he barely knows her--and a marriage without
love----"

"Is the safest thing known."

"Under given circumstances! I grant you that if two people well on
in life, old enough to know their own minds, and what they are
doing, were to marry, it might be different. They might risk a few
years of mere friendship together, and be glad of the venture later
on. But for two _young_ people to set out on life's journey with
nothing to steer by--that would be madness!"

"Ah! yes. Margaret speaks like a book," says Mrs. Bethune, with an
amused air; "Maurice, you see, is _so_ young, _so_
inexperienced----"

"At all events, Tita is only a child."

"Tita! Is that her name?"

"A pet name, I fancy. Short for Titania; she is such a little
thing."

"Titania--Queen of the Fairies; I wonder if the original Titania's
father dealt in buttons! Is it buttons, or soap, or tar? You didn't
say," says Mrs. Bethune, turning to Lady Rylton.