"But my dear Elizabeth," she added, "what sort of girl is Miss King? I should be sorry to think our friend mercenary."

     "Pray, my dear aunt, what is the difference in matrimonial affairs, between the mercenary and the prudent motive? Where does discretion end, and avarice begin? Last Christmas you were afraid of his marrying me, because it would be imprudent; and now, because he is trying to get a girl with only ten thousand pounds, you want to find out that he is mercenary."

     "If you will only tell me what sort of girl Miss King is, I shall know what to think."

     "She is a very good kind of girl, I believe. I know no harm of her."

     "But he paid her not the smallest attention till her grandfather's death made her mistress of this fortune."

     "No--what should he? If it were not allowable for him to gain my affections because I had no money, what occasion could there be for making love to a girl whom he did not care about, and who was equally poor?"

     "But there seems an indelicacy in directing his attentions towards her so soon after this event."