Does that shock you? I'm afraid I shock most
people. The fact is, I have been brought up in a circle which has
taught me to loathe sentiment. They were always gushing about their
feelings, but the only thing they cared for was money!"
"That ought to have made you loathe money," said Stafford, with a
smile, and a certain kind of interest; indeed, it was difficult not to
feel interested in this beautiful girl, with the face and the form of a
goddess, and, apparently, as small a capacity of emotion.
"Oh, no," she said, languidly; "on the contrary, it showed me the value
of money. I saw that if I had not been rich, the daughter of a rich
man, I should have been of no account in their eyes. They were always
professing to love me, but I was quite aware that it was because I was
rich enough to be able to buy pleasure for them."
"Unpleasant kind of people," remarked Stafford.
"No; just the average," she said, coolly. "Nearly all men and women are
alike--worldly, selfish, self-seeking. Look at my father," she went on,
as coolly as before. "He thinks of nothing but money; he has spent his
life fighting, scrambling, struggling for it; and look at yours--"
"Oh, hold on!" said Stafford, laughing, but reddening a little.
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