“No, I don’t agree with you, sir,” said Bartley Bradstone, with an air of great respect, but eyeing the grave, sad-faced old man out of the corner of his restless, suspicious eyes. “I like everything to be fair and aboveboard----” “Fair and aboveboard!” echoed the squire, almost angrily. “I--I mean straightforward and plain,” stammered Bartley Bradstone. “I must tell you what I intend to do if Olivia accepts me and becomes my wife----” The squire rose and leaned his elbow on the mantelshelf and his head on his hand, and seemed engaged in some mental struggle for a moment; then he raised his head, and looking every inch the true-hearted English gentleman, he said: “Wait a moment, if you please, Bradstone. Before you say any more, I think--I am sure--it is my duty to be as plain and straightforward--aye, to use your own words, as ‘fair and aboveboard’ as you are. I have to tell you this: You may suppose, and very naturally, that as the daughter of the lord of the manor, of a man with a large estate and occupying a prominent place in the county, Olivia will have a dowry suitable to her position.” Bartley Bradstone opened his mouth; but the squire, with a gesture of gentle dignity, motioned him to silence. “Hear me out. I find it difficult to tell you what I have to tell you. I say that it is only reasonable that you should suppose my daughter would come to you with a marriage portion suited to her rank in life. I am sorry, bitterly sorry, to tell you that Olivia will go to the man she marries with empty hands!” If the squire had expected his auditor to express astonishment or chagrin, he was agreeably relieved, for Bartley Bradstone merely nodded his head. “It is a matter of perfect indifference to me, sir,” he said, with a shrug of the shoulders. “It is Olivia I want, not money; thank Heaven I have enough--too much, perhaps--of that already. If you give me your consent----” “One moment more,” said the squire, interrupting him in a low voice. “It is my duty to tell you something more, Bradstone. If you are utterly indifferent to the fact that she will have no dowry, you may consider that, as my only child, she will and should inherit this,” and he waved his hand. “What if I tell you that she will not even do that?” Again Bartley Bradstone expressed neither surprise nor disappointment. “No?” he said. “Well, that is of no consequence to me, sir. As I said, it is Olivia I want, not money nor the Grange; though, mind you, I think it a pity that a fine old property that has been in the family so long----”