"Has referred him to you, of course," replied Lady Margaret. "Meaning it?" "What else? Why not? Is he not a _bon parli?_" "Then papa did not mean it?" "I do not understand you," elaborated the mother, with a mingled yawn, which she was far from attempting to suppress, seeing she simulated it. "If Mr. Redmain is such a good match in papa's eyes," explained Hesper, "why does papa refer him to me?" "That you may accept him, of course." "How much has the man promised to pay for me?" "_Hesper!_" "I beg your pardon, mamma. I thought you approved of calling things by their right names!" "No girl can do better than follow her mother's example," said Lady Margaret, with vague sequence. "If _you_ do, Hesper, you will accept Mr. Redmain." Hesper fixed her eyes on her mother, but hers were too cold and clear to quail before them, let them flash and burn as they pleased. "As you did papa?" said Hesper. "As I did Mr. Mortimer." "That explains a good deal, mamma." "We are _your_ parents, anyhow, Hesper." "I suppose so. I don't know which to be sorrier for--you or me. Tell me, mamma: would _you_ marry Mr. Redmain?" "That is a foolish question, and ought not to be put. It is one which, as a married woman, I could not consider without impropriety. Knowing the duty of a daughter, I did not put the question to _you_. You are yourself the offspring of duty." "If you were in my place, mamma," reattempted Hesper, but her mother did not allow her to proceed. "In any place, in every place, I should do my duty," she said.