The Major stood up, he was pale, and Agnes noticed that his lips trembled.
‘No, father,’ she said, ‘do not go to him; I do not know that he wants to marry me; it is only mother’s idea, she may be mistaken.’
‘You shall not be persecuted by his attentions.’
‘Lord Chiselhurst is a gentleman, father. Whatever his faults may be, I feel sure when he sees that I do not want him, that he will cease to think of me… Lord Chiselhurst is not the worst.’
‘Who, then, is the worst? Who is it that you wish me to rid you of?’
‘I don’t wish you to be violent, father, but you might hint to Mr.
Moulton that I do not wish——’
‘That man—he, too, is merely an expense.’
‘I am sure, father, that it is not right of him to put his arms round me—he tried to kiss me. I was alone in the drawing-room. And he spea
