Then she suggested that he should appeal
again to her father. It need hardly be said that her father knew
very little about it, and that the lawyers had long since written
to Lady Augustus to say that better terms as to settlement could
not be had from Mr. John Morton.
Morton, when he wrote his second letter, had received the offer of
the mission to Patagonia and had asked for a few days to think of
it. After much consideration he had determined that, he would say
nothing to Arabella of the offer. Her treatment of him gave her no
right to be consulted. Should she at once write back declaring her
readiness to become his wife, then he would consult her,--and would
not only consult her but would be prepared to abandon the mission
at the expression of her lightest wish. Indeed in that case he
thought that he would himself advise that it should be abandoned.
Why should he expatriate himself to such a place with such a wife
as Arabella Trefoil? He received her answer and at once accepted
the offer. He accepted it, though he by no means assured himself
that the engagement was irrevocably annulled. But now, if she came
to him, she must take her chance. She must be told that he at any
rate was going to Patagonia, and that unless she could make up her
mind to do so too, she must remain Arabella Trefoil for him.
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