Mr.Gibson would know the meaning of a bird in the hand as well as anybody.

Now those girls at Heavitree will never have above a few hundreds each, and not that while their mother lives." Dorothy made one little attempt at squeezing her aunt's hand, wishing to thank her aunt for this affectionate generosity; but she had hardly accomplished the squeeze, when she desisted, feeling strangely averse to any acknowledgment of such a boon as that which had been offered to her.

"And now, good night, my dear.

If I did not think you a very sensible young woman, I should not trust you by saying all this." Then they parted, and Dorothy soon found herself alone in her bedroom.
To have a husband of her own, a perfect gentleman too, and a clergyman;--and to go to him with a fortune! She believed that two thousand pounds represented nearly a hundred a year.

It was a large fortune in those parts,--according to her understanding of ladies' fortunes.