so!--would so flatly refuse to advance me money for my purpose--the
scheme of travelling with a first-rate tutor costing a formidable sum o'
money. You have no idea what it would cost!'

'But I have said that I'll find the money.'

'Ah, there,' he returned, 'you have hit a sore place. To speak truly,
dear, I would rather stay unpolished a hundred years than take your
money.'

'But why? Men continually use the money of the women they marry.'

'Yes; but not till afterwards. No man would like to touch your money at
present, and I should feel very mean if I were to do so in present
circumstances. That brings me to what I was going to propose. But
no--upon the whole I will not propose it now.'

'Ah! I would guarantee expenses, and you won't let me! The money is my
personal possession: it comes to me from my late grandfather, and not
from my father at all.'

He laughed forcedly and pressed her hand. 'There are more reasons why I
cannot tear myself away,' he added. 'What would become of my uncle's
farming? Six hundred acres in this parish, and five hundred in the
next--a constant traipsing from one farm to the other; he can't be in two
places at once. Still, that might be got over if it were not for the
other matters. Besides, dear, I still should be a little uneasy, even
though I have your promise, lest somebody should snap you up away from
me.'