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.