But it is all so utterly impossible.

To marry that absurd child! It is out of question.

Still, her tears trouble him.

He can see her crying as he crosses the hall, and then her words begin to trouble him even more.
What was it she had said about Marian?
It was a hint, a very broad one.

It meant that Marian might love him if he were a poor man, but could love him much more if he were a rich one.