Nor had Augusta any objection to the society of Miss Thorne. Augusta
was a strong-minded girl, with much of the De Courcy arrogance, but
quite as well inclined to show it in opposition to her mother as in any
other form. To her alone in the house did Lady Arabella show much
deference. She was now going to make a suitable match with a man of
large fortune, who had been procured for her as an eligible _parti_ by
her aunt, the countess. She did not pretend, had never pretended, that
she loved Mr Moffat, but she knew, she said, that in the present state
of her father's affairs such a match was expedient. Mr Moffat was a
young man of very large fortune, in Parliament, and inclined to
business, and in every way recommendable. He was not a man of birth,
to be sure; that was to be lamented;--in confessing that Mr Moffat was
not a man of birth, Augusta did not go so far as to admit that he was
the son of a tailor; such, however, was the rigid truth in this
matter--he was not a man of birth, that was to be lamented; but in the
present state of affairs at Greshamsbury, she understood well that it
was her duty to postpone her own feelings in some respect. Mr Moffat
would bring fortune; she would bring blood and connexion. And as she
so said, her bosom glowed with strong pride to think that she would be
able to contribute so much more towards the proposed future partnership
than her husband would do.

'Twas thus that Miss Gresham spoke of her match to her dear friends, her
cousins the De Courcys for instance, to Miss Oriel, her sister
Beatrice, and even to Mary Thorne. She had no enthusiasm, she
admitted, but she thought she had good judgment. She thought she had
shown good judgment in accepting Mr Moffat's offer, though she did not
pretend to any romance of affection. And, having so said, she went to
work with considerable mental satisfaction, choosing furniture,