The rest won't matter.

The marriage will then be a romantic affair, and romantic affairs are not unpopular dans le monde ou l'on s'ennuie." This declaration was all very well; the former part all very noble, the latter exhibiting a knowledge of the world rather shrewd for one so young.

But when would he be able to attain his unassailable position?
Some years hence.

Would Sophie Zobraska, who was only a few months younger than he, be content to sacrifice these splendid and irretrievable years of her youth?
Ursula Winwood looked into the immediate future, and did not see it rosy.

The first step toward an unassailable position was flight from the nest.