The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth - A complete eBook in pages (250 / 300)

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The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth
Book, page 250 / 300

'I am glad to hear you say so, my lord, and with such energy; so
few young men of the present day look to what I call good
connexion. In marrying, a man does not, to be sure, marry his
wife's mother; and yet a prudent man, when he begins to think of
the daughter, would look sharp at the mother; ay, and back to the
grandmother too, and along the whole female line of ancestry.'

'True--most true--he ought he must.'

'And I have a notion,' said the count, smiling, 'your lordship's
practice has been conformable to your theory.'

'I!--mine!' said Lord Colambre, starling, and looking at the
count with surprise.

'I beg your pardon,' said the count; 'I did not intend to
surprise your confidence. But you forget that I was present, and
saw the impression which was made on your mind by a mother's want
of a proper sense of delicacy and propriety--Lady Dashfort.'

'Oh, Lady Dashfort! she was quite out of my head.'

'And Lady Isabel?--I hope she is quite out of your heart.'

'She never was in it,' said Lord Colambre.

'Only laid siege to it,' said the count. 'Well, I am glad your
heart did not surrender at discretion, or rather without
discretion. Then I may tell you, without fear or preface, that
the Lady Isabel, who "talks of refinement, delicacy, sense," is
going to stoop at once, and marry--Heathcock.'

Lord Colambre was not surprised, but concerned and disgusted, as
he always felt, even when he did not care for the individual,
from hearing anything which tended to lower the female sex in
public estimation.

'As to myself,' said he, 'I cannot say I have had an escape, for
I don't think I ever was in much danger.'

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