She is in dreadfully low spirits."
"So much the better! If we can but induce her to borrow money from
Dale, all will be well; he will take that as a convincing proof of
regard and confidence, and will propose to her at once. I am sure of
it. So sure, that I will pass that matter by, and take it for granted.
And now--if this comes to pass, and Douglas Dale is here as the
accepted lover of Paulina, I must have constant access to the house,
and he must not know me as Victor Carrington. He has never seen me,
though I am familiar with his appearance."
"Why?" asked Miss Brewer, in a tone of suspicious surprise.
"I will tell you, by-and-by. Suffice it for the present that it must be
so. Then again, it would not do to have a man, who is not a relative,
established _l'ami de la maison_. That it is not the sort of thing that
an affianced lover could be expected to like. You must introduce me to
Douglas Dale as your cousin, and by the name of Carton. It is
sufficiently like my real name to prevent the servants knowing my name
is changed, since they always bungle over the 'Carrington.' As Victor
Carrington, Dale might refuse to know me, and certainly would not form
any intimacy with me, and that he should form an intimacy with me is
essential to my purpose."
"Why?" said Miss Brewer, in exactly the same tone as before.
"I will tell you by-and-by," said Carrington.
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