"
"You speak falsely, you little ----! No one knows anything about it but
myself!" exclaimed the commodore, betraying himself through astonishment
and indignation.
Without heeding the contradiction, except by a sly smile, Jacquelina
went calmly on:
"And I know that you wish to make me a stalking-horse, to convey the
estate to Grimshaw, only because you cannot give it to him in any other
way but through his wife."
"What do you mean, you little diabolical ----! It is my own--why can I
not give it to whom I please, I should like to know?"
"You can give it to any one in the world, uncle, except Dr. Grimshaw, or
to one who bears the same relationship to you that he does; for to such
a one you may not legally bequeath your landed estate, or--"
"You shocking, impudent little vixen! How dare you talk so?"
"Hear me out, uncle. I say, knowing such to be the case, I also know my
own importance as a 'stalking-horse,' or sumpter-mule, or something of
the sort, to bear upon my own shoulders the burden of this estate, which
you wish to give by me to Dr. Grimshaw. Therefore, I shall not give
myself away for nothing. I intend to sell myself for a price! Nothing on
earth would induce me to consent to marry Dr.
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