At any rate
ropes and horses would not bring Lord Rufford to the hymeneal
altar. That being so was it not natural that she should then have
considered what result would be next best to a marriage? She was
very poor, having saved only some few hundreds a year from the
wreck of her own fortune. Independently of her daughter had
nothing. And in spite of this poverty Arabella was very
extravagant, running up bills for finery without remorse wherever
credit could be found, and excusing herself by saying that on this
or that occasion such expenditure was justified by the matrimonial
prospects which it opened out to her. And now, of late, Arabella
had been talking of living separately from her mother. Lady
Augustus, who was thoroughly tired of her daughter's company, was
not at all averse to such a scheme; but any such scheme was
impracticable without money. By a happy accident the money would
now be forthcoming. There would be 400 pounds a year for ever and
nobody would know whence it came. She was confident that they might
trust to the lord's honour for secrecy. As far as her own opinion
went the result of the transaction would be most happy. But still
she feared Arabella. She felt that she would not know how to tell
her story when she got back to Marygold Place. "My dear, he won't
marry you; but he is to give you 8,000 pounds.
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