Chapter 15
After that evening I became a regular and welcome visitor at Lord Elton's house, and was soon on terms of the most friendly intimacy with all the members of his family, including even the severely pious Miss Charlotte Fitzroy. It was not difficult for me to see that my matrimonial aspirations were suspected,—and though the encouragement I received from Lady Sibyl herself was so slight as to make me doubtful whether, after all, my hopes of winning her would ever be realized, the Earl made no secret of his delight at the idea of securing me as a son-in-law. Such wealth as mine was not to be met with every day,—and even had I been a blackleg of the turf, or a retired jockey, instead of an 'author,' I should, "with five millions at my back, have been considered quite as desirable a
