“Certainly not:  it is an improvement,” said Mr. Lind, decisively.  “You are glad to have him back again with you, I dare say.  Ah yes, yes” (Mrs. Douglas’s eyes had answered for her).  “Did he tell you that he met me?  I saw him on Wednesday last for the first time since his return to London.  How long was he away?”

“Two years,” she replied, with slow emphasis, as if such an absence were hardly credible.  “Two long years.  He has been staying in Paris, in Venice, in Florence:  a month here, a week there, dissatisfied everywhere.  He would have been almost as happy with me at home.  And how is Marian?”

“Well,” said Mr. Lind, smiling, “I believe she is still disengaged; and she professes to be fancy free.  She is fond of saying, generally, that she will never marry, and so forth.  That is the new fashion with young women—­if saying what they dont mean can be called a new fashion.”

“Marian is sure to get married,” said Mrs. Douglas.  “She must have had offers already.  There are few parents who have not cause to envy you.”

“We have both been happy in that respect, Mrs. Douglas.  Sholto is a highly distinguished young man.  I wish I had started in life with half his advantages.  I thought at one time he was perhaps becoming attached to Marian.”

“You are quite sure, Mr. Lind, that you could forgive his being a plain gentleman?  A little bird whispered to me that you desired a title for Marian.”

“My dear Mrs. Douglas, we, who are familiar with titles, understand their true value.  I should be very sorry to see Marian lose, by an unsuitable alliance, the social position I have been able to give her.  I should set my face resolutely against such an alliance.  But few English titles can boast a pedigree comparable with Sholto’s.  The name of Douglas is historic—­far more so than that of Lind, which is not even English except by naturalization.  Besides, Sholto’s talents are very remarkable.  He will certainly adopt a political career; and, with his opportunities and abilities, a peerage is anything but a remote contingency.”

“Sholto, you know, is perfectly unembarrassed.  There is not a charge on his property.  I think that even Marian, good as she is, and lovely as she is, will not easily find a better match.  But I am well known to be a little crazy about my dear boy.  That is because I know him so much better than anyone else does.  Now let us talk about other matters.  Let me see.  Oh yes, I got a prospectus of some company from the city the other day; and whose name should there be upon the list of directors but Reginald Harrington Lind’s!  And Lord Carbury’s, too!  Pray, is the entire family going into business?”

“Well, I believe the undertaking to be a commercially sound one; and—­”

“Fancy you talking about commercial soundness!”

“True.  It must sound strange to you.  But it is no longer unusual for men in my position to take an active part in the direction of commerce.  We have duties as well as privileges.  I gave my name and took a few shares chiefly on the recommendation of Jasper and of my own stockbroker.  I think there can be no doubt that Jasper and Mr. Conolly have made a very remarkable discovery, and one which must prove highly remunerative and beneficial.”