She had thought it right to give up, on Lucia's behalf, any claim she had on the young man's fidelity; but to find him so very ready to accept the sacrifice, was quite another thing.

It was so unlike Maurice, she said to herself; and then it occurred to her that Mr.
Beresford might have planned some marriage for his grandson as a condition of his inheritance.

Certainly she had heard no hint of such a thing, and up to a short time ago she was pretty sure Maurice himself could have had no idea of it; yet it was perfectly possible, and Mr.
Leigh might have been warned to say nothing to her about it.

All these thoughts, though Maurice might, if he had known, have been inclined to resent them, had the effect of keeping him constantly in Mrs.Costello's mind; and she puzzled over his conduct until she came to have her wishes pretty equally divided; on one hand, desiring to keep to her plan of a total separation between Lucia and him; and on the other, longing to see or hear of him, in order to know whether her former or her present opinion of him was the correct one.
It happened, therefore, that Maurice was much more frequently spoken of between the mother and daughter than should have been the case if Mrs.
Costello had carried out her theories.

If Lucia had been ever so little "in love" with him when she reached Paris, she would have had plenty of opportunity for increasing her fancy by dwelling on the object of it; but Mrs.Costello's wishes were forwarded by the very last means she would have chosen as her auxiliary.