Therefore the spark,--would that it had been no more,--must
be quenched. Therefore there could be no union of two lovers;--but
simply a prudent and perhaps a splendid marriage.
Lord Popplecourt was a man in possession of a large estate which
was unencumbered. His rank in the peerage was not high, but his
barony was of an old date,--and, if things went well with him,
something higher in rank might be open to him. He had good looks
of that sort which recommend themselves to pastors and masters, to
elders and betters. He had regular features. He looked as though
he were steady. He was not impatient or rollicking. Silverbridge
was also good-looking;--but his good looks were such as would give
a pang to the hearts of anxious mothers of daughters. Tregear was
the handsomest man of the three;--but then he looked as though he
had not betters and did not care for his elders. Lord Popplecourt,
though a very young man, had once stammered through half-a-dozen
words in the House of Lords, and had been known to dine with the
'Benevolent Funds'. Lord Silverbridge had declared him to be a
fool.
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