“Lady Catherine, as you know,” continued Sir William, “I was Sir Walter Elliot’s heir to Kellynch, which passed to me these several years now. In addition, my first wife came to the marriage as the sole heiress of her father’s estate. I am well provided-for; my circumstances are exceedingly comfortable. Whilst Kellynch is not a Rosings, it is my home and I would propose that it is the properest home for my wife. It is there that I propose we should live.”

Lady Catherine blushed and smiled. “That is all to the good, Sir William, but we are, I believe, getting a little ahead of ourselves. Have you no other encumbrances? There are no children from your first marriage, as I understand it?”

“Yes, Lady Catherine. You have been correctly informed; my late wife and I were not blessed with children,” replied Sir William.

“And her family? How are they situated?”

“Very well, Your Ladyship,” he assured her most earnestly.

“Then there are no claims on your fortune other than your own?”

“That is correct, Ma’am; I am my own master, and my property is mine to dispose of as I wish.”

“Well, that is all to the good,” said Lady Catherine, moved perceptibly closer through the expedient of adjusting her skirts. She smiled and took his hand. “Then all that remains for us, Sir William, is to decide the day that shall be the happiest of our lives.”

Sir William stared at Lady Catherine with unfeigned astonishment. “But Lady Catherine…,” began Sir William.

“No, Sir William,” interrupted Lady Catherine with unusual softness, “I will not have any impediments mentioned, for, indeed, as we are situated there can be none.”

“But Lady Catherine, I insist,” he began again. “Do not you believe, before we take such a step, we properly ought consult Anne?”

“My daughter be consulted?” started Lady Catherine. “Whatever can you mean? What has Anne to do with our plans?”

“As it is her happiness as well as our own, I could never wish for our married life to begin with her feeling that such an important decision as concerns her own future had been made without consulting her own views,” replied Sir William.

Lady Catherine looked at Sir William closely. “I am sure Anne will be amenable, whatever we decide, and that—certainly on this issue—we may please ourselves.”

“Lady Catherine, I must be satisfied that—on so urgent a matter—I speak with your daughter and ascertain her sentiments, before we proceed to any such arrangements as she may not wholly approve.”

Lady Catherine began to grow warm in her remonstrance. “Sir William, I assure you there is no mother with greater maternal solicitude for the feelings of her daughter than I. However, in matters such as these, I believe that ours is the only opinion which can be material!” She recollected herself in the next instant, and smiled demurely as she moved yet closer to Sir William.