demesnes of Fawley, he would have had no charm in the eyes of Honoria
Vipont. Disparity of years was in this case no drawback but his
advantage, since to that disparity Darrell owed the established name and
the eminent station which made Honoria think she elevated her own self in
preferring him. It is but justice to her to distinguish here between a
woman's veneration for the attributes of respect which a man gathers
round him, and the more vulgar sentiment which sinks the man altogether,
except as the necessary fixture to be taken in with general valuation.
It is not fair to ask if a girl who entertains a preference for one of
our toiling, stirring, ambitious sex, who may be double her age or have a
snub nose, but who looks dignified and imposing on a pedestal of state,
whether she would like him as much if stripped of all his accessories,
and left unredeemed to his baptismal register or unbecoming nose. Just
as well ask a girl in love with a young Lothario if she would like him as
much if he had been ugly and crooked. The high name of the one man is as
much a part of him as good looks are to the other. Thus, though it was
said of Madame de la Valliere that she loved Louis XIV: for himself and
not for his regal grandeur, is there a woman in the world, however
disinterested, who believes that Madame de la Valliere would have liked
Louis XIV. as much if Louis XIV. had been Mr. John Jones; Honoria would
not have bestowed her hand on a brainless, worthless nobleman, whatever
his rank or wealth. She was above that sort of ambition; but neither
would she have married the best-looking and worthiest John Jones who ever
bore that British appellation, if he had not occupied the social position
which brought the merits of a Jones within range of the eyeglass of a
Vipont.

Many girls in the nursery say to their juvenile confidants, "I will marry
the man I love." Honoria had ever said, "I will only marry the man I
respect." Thus it was her respect for Guy Darrell that made her honour