was still large, but not so large as the sum named in the bargain made.  And it was moreover weighted with her father’s blood.  From the moment of her father’s death she had never dreamed that he would marry her.  Why should he?  Her thoughts in reference to Sir Felix were bitter enough;—­but as against Nidderdale they were not at all bitter.  Should she ever meet him again she would shake hands with him and smile,—­if not pleasantly as she thought of the things which were past,—­at any rate with good humour.  But all this had not made her much in love with matrimony generally.  She had over a hundred thousand pounds of her own, and, feeling conscious of her own power in regard to her own money...