“It’smybelief，sir，thatyouhavenotthepowerortherighttoseparatethosetwo。”Dobbinansweredinalowvoice；“andthatifyoudon’tgiveyourdaughteryourconsentitwillbeherdutytomarrywithoutit。There’snoreasonsheshoulddieorlivemiserablybecauseyouarewrong-headed。Tomythinking，she’sjustasmuchmarriedasifthebannshadbeenreadinallthechurchesinLondon。AndwhatbetteranswercantherebetoOsborne’schargesagainstyou，aschargesthereare，thanthathissonclaimstoenteryourfamilyandmarryyourdaughter？”
AlightofsomethinglikesatisfactionseemedtobreakoveroldSedleyasthispointwasputtohim：buthestillpersistedthatwithhisconsentthemarriagebetweenAmeliaandGeorgeshouldnevertakeplace。
“Wemustdoitwithout。”Dobbinsaid，smiling，andtoldMr。Sedley，ashehadtoldMrs。Sedleyintheday，before，thestoryofRebecca’selopementwithCaptainCrawley。Itevidentlyamusedtheoldgentleman。”You’reterriblefellows，youCaptains。”saidhe，tyinguphispapers；andhisfaceworesomethinglikeasmileuponit，totheastonishmentoftheblear-eyedwaiterwhonowentered，andhadneverseensuchanexpressionuponSedley’scountenancesincehehadusedthedismalcoffee-house。
TheideaofhittinghisenemyOsbornesuchablowsoothed，perhaps，theoldgentleman：and，theircolloquypresentlyending，heandDobbinpartedprettygoodfriends。
“Mysisterssayshehasdiamondsasbigaspigeons’