
with a party that he may be turned into a nobleman. I feel at liberty to marry
the man I love and think worthy, unless some higher duty forbids.«
    »And so it does, Catherine, though you are blinded and cannot see it. It is
a woman's duty not to lower herself. You are lowering yourself. Mr. Arrowpoint,
will you tell your daughter what is her duty?«
    »You must see, Catherine, that Klesmer is not the man for you,« said Mr.
Arrowpoint. »He won't do at the head of estates. He has a deuced foreign look -
is an unpractical man.«
    »I really can't see what that has to do with it, papa. The land of England
has often passed into the hands of foreigners - Dutch soldiers, sons of foreign
women of bad character: - if our land were sold to-morrow it would very likely
pass into the hands of some foreign merchant on 'Change. It is in everybody's
mouth that successful swindlers may buy up half the land in the country. How can
I stem that tide?«
    »It will never do to argue about marriage, Cath,« said Mr. Arrowpoint. »It's
no use getting up the subject like a parliamentary question. We must do as other
people do. We must think of the nation and the public good.«
    »I can't see any public good concerned here, papa,« said Catherine. »Why is
it to be expected of an heiress that she should carry the property gained in
trade into the hands of a certain class? That seems to me a ridiculous mish-mash
of superannuated customs and false ambition. I should call it a public evil.
People had better make a new sort of public good by changing their ambitions.«
    »That is mere sophistry, Catherine,« said Mrs. Arrowpoint. »Because you
don't wish to marry a nobleman, you are not obliged to marry a mountebank or a
charlatan.«
    »I cannot understand the application of such words, mamma.«
    »No, I daresay not,« rejoined Mrs. Arrowpoint, with significant scorn. »You
have got to a pitch at which we are not likely to understand each other.«
    »It can't be done, Cath,« said Mr. Arrowpoint, wishing to substitute a
better-humoured reasoning for his wife's impetuosity. »A man like Klesmer can't
marry such a property as yours. It can't be
