She did realize that her _fiance_, even there with the black
silk handkerchief wound round his head and his face and hands deadly
pale and fragile-looking, was still a most arrogant and
distinguished-looking creature, and that his eyes, with their pathetic
shadows dimming the proud glance in them, were wonderfully attractive.
But she was not touched especially by his weakness. She disliked
suffering and never wanted to be made aware of it.
John Derringham went straight into the subject which was uppermost in
his thoughts. He asked her to listen to him patiently, and stated his
exact financial situation. She must then judge if she found it worth
while to marry him; he would not deceive her about one fraction of it.
She laughed lightly when he had ended--and there was something which
galled him in her mirth.
"It is all a ridiculous nothing," she said. "Why, I can pay off the
whole thing with only the surplus I invest every year from my income!
Your property is quite good security--if I want any. We shall probably
have to do it in a business-like way; your house will be mine, of
course, but I will make you very comfortable as my guest!" and she
smiled with suitable playfulness.
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