say any more about it. Addressing a girl just for her
money!" interjected Bijou warmly, disappointed that he had not scorned the
proposition utterly.

"It didn't go that far. I thought it might be a good thing, you know. And
so I tried it,--spooning, you know," said he placidly.

"Oh, indeed!" commented Bijou sarcastically. "Very honorable of you, I am
sure, and delightful for the girl to have such a disinterested admirer.
How did it end?"

"How you do pick,a fellow up!" remonstrated Mr. Ramsay amiably. "It sounds
awfully conceited to say so, of course, but I think I could have carried
off the cup if I had liked. At least every one said she was hard hit. And
she wasn't long in the tooth, or very ugly, or vulgar, or anything; but
somehow I couldn't stand it. I got to hate her. She breathed so hard when
she danced, for one thing. Regular grampus. Upon my word, she almost blew
my gibus away from under my arm sometimes. Regular snorts. And then she
was always smilin'. And she talked an awful lot about Goethe and Schiller,
and those chaps. Altogether, I cried off, and told the governor I would
try the Colonies. And he told me that if I was such a consummate ass as to
let a good thing like that slip, I could take my little pittance and go to
the deuce as soon as ever I liked; and here I am. Some may think I acted
foolishly, but one's relatives are not always the best judges of what is
good for one, you know, though they may think they are actin' for one's
good; and what one wants to do is to do one's best in whatever position
one finds one's self in, you know, no matter what one--Hang it all! I know
what I want to say, but I can't say it. You understand, I fancy, without
me tryin' to explain."

Having tied himself up in this conversational bow-knot, Mr. Ramsay waited
to be extricated. His idea had been to convey in the most delicate and
roundabout way to Bijou that he was not the man to marry any woman for her
money, and that if he had seemed to like a certain person a good deal it
was not because she was the daughter of a rich man. To her, however, he
seemed to be posing as a conqueror of heiresses, indifferent to the pain
he might inflict upon any girl silly enough to be captivated by his good
looks and good manners,--a breaker of tacit engagements, and a wicked
worldling. So she rose very stiffly, and said that she neither knew nor
cared to know what he meant, and was obliged to leave him, and so went
away, and left hi