Doubtless, he thought, she intended that; and his annoyance at what he considered a lack of generosity outweighed the satisfaction his vanity might have found in her new manner towards him.

That manner, especially this morning, reminded him of six years ago.

Was Constance capable of exacting payment of a debt which she imagined him to have incurred at Alverholme?
Women think queerly, and are no less unaccountable in their procedure.
His curiosity busied itself with the vaguely indicated compact between Constance and Lady Ogram, but no word on the subject, not even a distant allusion to it, ever fell from his nominally betrothed, and the old lady herself, however amiable, spoke not at all of the things he desired to know.

Was it not grossly unjust to him?
Until he clearly understood Constance's future position, how could he decide upon his course with regard to her?
Conceivably, the proposed marriage might carry advantages which it behooved him to examine with all care; conceivably also, it might at a given moment be his sole rescue from embarrassment or worse.

Meanwhile, ignorance of the essential factors of the problem put him at a grave disadvantage.