That a man like Jasper
Milvain, whose name was every now and then forced upon his notice
as a rising periodicalist and a faithful henchman of the
unspeakable Fadge--that a young fellow of such excellent
prospects should seriously attach himself to a girl like Marian
seemed to him highly improbable, save, indeed, for the one
consideration, that Milvain, who assuredly had a very keen eye to
chances, might regard the girl as a niece of old John Yule, and
therefore worth holding in view until it was decided whether or
not she would benefit by her uncle's decease. Fixed in his
antipathy to the young man, he would not allow himself to admit
any but a base motive on Milvain's side, if, indeed, Marian and
Jasper were more to each other than slight acquaintances; and he
persuaded himself that anxiety for the girl's welfare was at
least as strong a motive with him as mere prejudice against the
ally of Fadge, and, it might be, the reviewer of 'English Prose.'
Milvain was quite capable of playing fast and loose with a girl,
and Marian, owing to the peculiar circumstances of her position,
would easily be misled by the pretence of a clever speculator.
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