He might not like the Raeburns, but that anything should come in the way of his daughter's match was, notwithstanding, the very last thing in the world, as he soon discovered, that he really desired.

During six months he had taken it for granted; so had the county.

He, of all men, could not afford to be made ridiculous, apart from the solid, the extraordinary advantages of the matter.

He thought Marcella a foolish, unreasonable girl, and was not the less in a panic because his wife let him understand that he had had a good deal to do with it.

So that between him and his daughter there were now constant sparrings--sparrings which degraded Marcella in her own eyes, and contributed not a little to make her keep away from home.
The one place where she breathed freely, where the soul had full course, was in Minta Hurd's kitchen.