"
"You've no call to take offence, Steph," answered the bailiff with a
conciliating grin. "I never said you wasn't a good match for my girl; but
a pretty girl and a prudent clever housekeeper like Nell is a fortune in
herself to any man."
"Then the matter's settled, I suppose," said Mr. Whitelaw; "and the
sooner the wedding comes off the better, to my mind. If my wife that is
to be wants anything in the way of new clothes, I shall be happy to put
down a twenty-pound note--or I'd go as far as thirty--towards 'em."
Ellen shook her head impatiently.
"I want nothing new," she said; "I have as many things as I care to
have."
"Nonsense, Nell," cried her father, frowning at her in a significant
manner to express his disapproval of this folly, and in so doing looking
at her for the first time since her suitor's advent. "Every young woman
likes new gowns, and of course you'll take Steph's friendly offer, and
thank him kindly for it. He knows that I'm pretty hard-up just now, and
won't be able to do much for you; and it wouldn't do for Mrs. Whitelaw of
Wyncomb to begin the world with a shabby turn-out."
"Of course not," replied the farmer; "I'll bring you the cash to-morrow
evening, Nell; and the sooner you buy your wedding-gown the better.
There's nothing to wait for, you see.
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