Mr. Steel, however, refrained from making
it.
"I am an oldish man," he said, "and--yes, there is no use in denying
that I am comfortably off. I want a wife; or rather, my neighbors seem
bent upon finding me one; and, if the worst has to come to the worst, I
prefer to choose for myself. Matrimony, however, is about the very last
state of life that I desire, and I take it to be the same with you.
Therefore--to put the cart before the horse--you would suit me ideally.
One's own life would be unaltered, but the Delverton mothers would cease
from troubling, and at the head of my establishment there would be a
lady of whom I should be most justly proud. And even in my own life I
should, I hope, be the more than occasional gainer by her society; may I
also add, by her sympathy, by her advice? Mrs. Minchin," cried Steel,
with sudden feeling, "the conditions shall be very rigid; my lawyer
shall see to that; nor shall I allow myself a loophole for any weakness
or nonsense whatsoever in the future. Old fellows like myself have made
fools of themselves before to-day, but you shall be safeguarded from the
beginning. Let there be no talk or thought of love between us from first
to last! But as for admiration, I don't mind telling you that I admire
you as I never admired any woman in the world before; and I hope, in
spite of that, we shall be friends.
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