"Oh, yes, I have no doubt of that, papa, from your point of view; that is to say, she is very pretty, and thinks a great deal of dress, and is quite ready to flirt with any one who likes to flirt with her--I'm sure you must have seen _that_ at Hale Castle--and fills her scrap-book with portraits of engaged men; witness all those drawings of Mr. Fairfax. I have no doubt she is just the kind of person gentlemen call charming; but she is no friend of mine, and she never will be." "I am sorry to hear that," said her father sternly; "for she is very likely to be your stepmother." It was a death-blow, but one that Sophia Granger had anticipated for a long time. "You are going to marry Miss Lovel, papa--a girl two years younger than I am?" "Yes, I am going to marry Miss Lovel, and I am very proud of her youth and beauty; but I do not admit her want of more solid charms than those, Sophia. I have watched her conduct as a daughter, and I have a most perfect faith in the goodness and purity of her heart." "Oh, very well, papa. Of course you know what is best for your own happiness. It is not for me to presume to offer an opinion; I trust I have too clear a sense of duty for that." And here Miss Granger gave a sigh expressive of resignation under circumstances of profound affliction. "I believe you have, Sophy," answered her father kindly. "I believe that, however unwelcome this change may be to you at first--and I suppose it is only natural that it should be unwelcome--you will reconcile your mind to it fully when you discover that it is for my happiness. I am not ashamed to confess to you that I love Clarissa very fondly, and that I look forward to a happy future when she is my wife." "I hope, papa, that your life has not been unhappy hitherto--that I have not in any manner failed in my duties as a daughter." "Oh, dear no, child; of course not. That has nothing to do with the question." "Will it--the marriage--be very soon, papa?" asked Miss Granger, with another gulp, as if there were still some obstructive substance in her throat. "I hope so, Sophy. There is no reason, that I can see, why it should not be very soon." "And will Mr. Lovel come to live with us?" "I don't know; I have never contemplated such a possibility. I think Mr. Lovel is scarcely the kind of person who would care to live in another man's house." "But this has been his own house, you see, papa, and will seem to belong to him again when his daughter is the mistress of it. I daresay he will look upon us as interlopers." "I don't think so, Sophia. Mr. Lovel is a gentleman, and a sensible man into the bargain. He is not likely to have any absurd ideas of that kind." "I suppose he is very much pleased at having secured such a rich husband for his daughter," Miss Granger hazarded presently, with the air of saying something agreeable.