The man of Rotterdam moved forward a little as he spoke, and Gerard
Douw, he scarce knew why, inwardly prayed for the speedy return of
Schalken.

"I desire," said the mysterious gentleman, "to place in your hands at
once an evidence of my wealth, and a security for my liberal dealing
with your niece. The lad will return in a minute or two with a sum in
value five times the fortune which she has a right to expect from her
husband. This shall lie in your hands, together with her dowry, and you
may apply the united sum as suits her interest best; it shall be all
exclusively hers while she lives: is that liberal?"

Douw assented, and inwardly acknowledged that fortune had been
extraordinarily kind to his niece; the stranger, he thought, must be
both wealthy and generous, and such an offer was not to be despised,
though made by a humourist, and one of no very prepossessing presence.
Rose had no very high pretensions for she had but a modest dowry, which
she owed entirely to the generosity of her uncle; neither had she any
right to raise exceptions on the score of birth, for her own origin was
far from splendid, and as the other objections, Gerald resolved, and
indeed, by the usages of the time, was warranted in resolving, not to
listen to them for a moment.

"Sir" said he, addressing the stranger, "your offer is liberal, and
whatever hesitation I may feel in closing with it immediately, arises
solely from my not having the honour of knowing anything of your family
or station. Upon these points you can, of course, satisfy me without
difficulty?'