Anne Douglas Sedgwick

“ Yes, he could see himself and Alix in Oxford together and walking in Oxfordshire and Berkshire fields and lanes. More than that. There was another figure that Toppie had not brought into her picture; but she would have thought of it. It was the figure that stood between Alix and all those other dreams he had woven round her and Jerry. Who but himself could care for Alix's mother and accept her into his life? Madame Vervier, he knew, would never have come to Oxford. ”

“ At this Giles felt as if he clutched Alix back from a danger. She might have betrayed herself to him; he could not bear to see her betrayed to Jerry. “She may marry someone quite decent, you see, but not of her own class. Some nice young artist, for instance, some savant. Her mother knows all sorts of interesting people.” ”

“ Jerry shook his head, moving to the door. “I leave it to you and Alix.”
“I don't know; I don't know,” Giles pondered. “It might be better. I kept you back before. That may have been my grievous mistake. I don't believe in wooings by proxy.”
“Well, I didn't make much headway when I wooed in person,” Jerry remarked. “No. Clear away the other fellow if you can. And then we'll see. After all”—Jerry had actually got outside now, but he put his head around the door to utter these last words—“you've never asked her yourself yet. She's never seen you as a lover.” ”