ETHEL [suddenly thoughtful, speaks appealingly]. _You're_ fond of
Almeric, aren't you, Hoddy--_you_ admire him, don't you?
HORACE. Certainly. Think of all he represents.
ETHEL [enthusiastically]. Ah, yes! Crusader's blood flows in his veins.
It is to the nobility that _must_ be within him that I have plighted my
troth. I am ready to marry him when they wish.
HORACE. Then as soon as the settlement is arranged. It'll take about all
your share of the estate, sis, but it's worth it--a hundred and fifty
thousand pounds.
ETHEL [earnestly]. What better use could be made of a fortune than to
maintain the state and high condition of so ancient a house?
HORACE. Doesn't it seem impossible that we were born in Indiana!
[He speaks seriously, as if the thing were incredible.]
ETHEL [smiling]. But isn't it good that the pater "made his pile," as
the Americans say, and let us come over here when we were young to find
the nobler things, Hoddy--the _nobler_ things!
HORACE. The nobler things--the nobler things, sis. When old Hawcastle
dies I'll be saying, quite off-hand, you know, "My sister, the Countess
of Hawcastle--"
ETHEL [thoughtfully]. You don't suppose that father's friend, my
guardian, this old Mr. Pike, will be--will be QUEER, do you?
HORACE. Well, the governor himself was rather _raw_, you know.
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