He was a Civilian. Very many women took an interest in Saumarez, perhaps,
because his manner to them was offensive. If you hit a pony over the nose at
the outset of your acquaintance, he may not love you, but he will take a deep
interest in your movements ever afterwards. The elder Miss Copleigh was nice,
plump, winning and pretty. The younger was not so pretty, and, from men
disregarding the hint set forth above, her style was repellant and
unattractive. Both girls had, practically, the same figure, and there was a
strong likeness between them in look and voice; though no one could doubt for
an instant which was the nicer of the two.
Saumarez made up his mind, as soon as they came into the station from Behar,
to marry the elder one. At least, we all made sure that he would, which comes
to the same thing. She was two and twenty, and he was thirty-three, with pay
and allowances of nearly fourteen hundred rupees a month. So the match, as we
arranged it, was in every way a good one. Saumarez was his name, and summary
was his nature, as a man once said. Having drafted his Resolution, he formed a
Select Committee of One to sit upon it, and resolved to take his time. In our
unpleasant slang, the Copleigh girls "hunted in couples.
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