'I am what events have made me, and having fixed my mind upon getting you settled in life by this marriage, I have put things in train for it at an immense trouble to myself.

If you had thought over it o' nights as much as I have, you would not say nay.' 'But I ought to have married your mother if anybody.

And as I have not married her, the least I can do in respect to her is to marry no other woman.' 'You have some sort of duty to me, have you not, Captain De Stancy ?' 'Yes, Willy, I admit that I have,' the elder replied reflectively.

'And I don't think I have failed in it thus far ?' 'This will be the crowning proof.

Paternal affection, family pride, the noble instincts to reinstate yourself in the castle of your ancestors, all demand the step.