"Well, then, mother, to look this evil steadily in the face, as you say. Suppose Lettice and Mr. St. Leger _were_ to form an attachment for each other, what should hinder them from marrying?" "Ah, my dear, that was what I said before, what _would_ become of them--they must starve." "Why so? why not live on here?" "Nay, Catherine, you made me promise not to call you romantic, but who ever heard of such an out-of-the-way scheme. A young married couple, living in the condition of domestic companions to people, and in another man's house. Utterly impossible--what nobody ever attempted to do--utterly out of the question." "Well, mamma, I, for one, think that a great many rather out-of-the-way plans, which, nevertheless, might make people very happy, are often rejected--merely because 'nobody ever heard of such a thing,' or, 'nobody ever thought of doing so, and therefore it is utterly impossible.'... But I think I have observed that those who, in their own private arrangements, have had the courage, upon well considered grounds--mind I say upon _well considered grounds_--to overlook the consideration of nobody ever having thought of doing such a thing before--have found their account in it, and a vast deal of happiness has been secured which would otherwise have been quite lost." "As how, Catherine. Give me instances. I don't quite follow you." "Why, in marriages, for instance, then, such cases arise very often. Late marriages for one--between people quite advanced in years--which the world often laugh and sneer at. Most wrongly in my opinion--for through them how often do we see what would otherwise have been a solitary old age, rendered cheerful and comfortable; and sometimes a weary, disappointed life, consoled by a sweet friendship and affection at its close. Then, there are marriages founded upon reason and arrangement; such as when an ugly man with an ungraceful manner, yet perhaps a good heart and head, and with it plenty of money, marries one rather his inferior in social rank, whom his circumstances enable him to indulge with many new sources of enjoyment, and who in return is grateful for the elevation, and proud of a husband young ladies of his own class might have looked down upon. Then there might be another arrangement, which is, indeed, at present, I own, almost a romance, it is so rarely entered into. I mean, supposing single women from different families, somewhat advanced in life, were to put their little fortunes together, and form a household, wherein, by their united means, they might live easily--instead of almost in penury alone. In short, the instances are innumerable, in which, I think, the path a little out of the ordinary course, is the wisest a person can pursue." "Go on, my love, you talk so prettily, I like to hear you."