The only answers
I got were these disclosures by blushes.
"What are the fortune and position of this Mr. Drewett, since you are
resolved to tell me nothing of your own affairs?"
"Both are good, and such as no young lady can object to. He is even
said to be rich."
"Thank God! _He_ then is not seeking Lucy in the hope of getting
some of Mrs. Bradfort's money?"
"Not in the least. It is so easy to love Lucy, for Lucy's sake, that
even a fortune-hunter would be in danger of being caught in his own
trap. But Mr. Drewett is above the necessity of practising so vile a
scheme for making money."
Here, that the present generation may not be misled, and imagine
fortune-hunting has come in altogether within the last twenty years, I
will add that it was not exactly a trade, in this country--a regular
occupation--in 1802, as it has become, in 1844. There were such things
then, certainly, as men, or women, who were ready to marry anybody who
would make them rich; but I do not think theirs was a calling to which
either sex served regular apprenticeships, as is practised
to-day. Still, the business was carried on, to speak in the
vernacular, and sometimes with marked success.
"You have not told me, Grace," I resumed, "whether you think Lucy is
pleased, or not, with the attentions of this gentleman.
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