'
'I shall be very glad to go to Grasmere myself, and to make the
acquaintance of my future grandmother-in-law,' said Mr. Smithson.
'You will be charmed with her. She belongs to the old school--something
of a fossil, perhaps, but a very dignified fossil. She has grown old in
a rustic seclusion, and knows less of _our_ world than a mother abbess;
but she has read immensely, and is wonderfully clever. I am bound to
tell you that she has very lofty ideas about her granddaughter; and I
believe she will only be reconciled to Lesbia's marriage with a commoner
by the notion that you are sure of a peerage. I ventured to hint as much
in my letter to Lady Maulevrier yesterday.'
A shade of sullenness crept over Horace Smithson's visage.
'I should hope that such settlements as I am in a position to make will
convince Lady Maulevrier that I am a respectable suitor for her
granddaughter, ex peerage,' he said, somewhat haughtily.
'My dear Smithson, did I not tell you that poor Lady Maulevrier is a
century behind the times,' exclaimed Lady Kirkbank, with an aggrieved
look.
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