'Yes.' A cloud crossed his face as he reflected that this was just what his own younger brother had failed to do. 'But when a father has dishonoured his family as well then the case is even sharper. The son of such a man faces not only poverty but shame, ridicule. Every step he takes down the street is dogged by shadows. Some men hide. They seek a life of obscurity. But the bravest souls outface the world. They hold their heads high; their ambition is not like a fire of hope, but a sword of steel. They seek fame twice: once for themselves and once to erase the shame of their fathers. That memory is always with them, like a thorn, driving them on.' He paused and smiled. 'John Lisle, I think, is such a one. He is a good man, an honest man. I'm sure he is kind. But he has that in him.' He looked at her with affection. 'When a father has an heiress as a daughter he looks, if he is wise, for a husband who will know how to use that fortune: a man of ambition.'

'Not another heir, Father? The ambitious man, surely, might care only for her money.'

'You must trust my judgement.' He sighed. 'The trouble is that most of the heirs of fine estates are either soft, or lazy, or both.' And then, suddenly and unexpectedly, he laughed.

'Why are you laughing?' she asked.

'I was just thinking, Alicia.' He sometimes called her that. 'With your strong character I wouldn't inflict you on some unsuspecting heir to a great estate. You'd destroy the poor boy entirely.'

'I?' She looked at him in genuine astonishment. 'I have no thought of being a strong character, Father,' she replied, which only caused him to smile at her the more fondly.

'I know, my child. I know.' He tapped his finger lightly on her arm. 'Consider John Lisle, though. I only ask that. You will find him worthy of respect.'

When, two days later, Stephen Pride stopped at the cottage of Gabriel Furzey on the way to the green, he reckoned he was doing him a favour. 'Shouldn't you be going?' he enquired.

'No,' said Gabriel, which, thought Pride, was typical.