I must not let them be seen together too soon, you know.

There might be a hitch in the marriage negotiations.

The earl is a tight one in business matters, and might drive a hard bargain with me should I allow his son to place Doll in a false position before the marriage contract is signed." He little knew how certainly Dorothy herself would avoid that disaster.
He took a long draught from his mug of toddy and winked knowingly at me, saying, "I am too wise for that." "Have you told Dorothy ?" I asked.
"No," he replied, "I have not exactly told her.

I had a talk with her a few days ago on the subject, though the earl and I had not, at that time, entirely agreed upon the terms, and I did not know that we should agree.
But I told her of the pending negotiations, because I wished to prepare her for the signing of the contract; and also, by gad, Malcolm, I wanted to make the girl understand at the outset that I will have no trifling with my commands in this matter.

I made that feature of the case very plain, you may rest assured.