" Pinter is leaving for the day?” Isaac commented. “That’s a pity.”
“Why?”
“Haven’t you noticed how he looks at Celia sometimes? I think he might have set his sights on her.”
“I thought so, too. Until just now.”
“Just now?”
“He did not react exactly as I expected when I-“ Oh, dear, perhaps she should not mention that. Isaac might not approve.”
“Hetty?” Isaac prodded. “What mischief have you been up to now? You weren’t warning him off, were you?”
The disapproval in his tone made her bristle. “And what if I was? The man is the love child of a light-heeled wench and God knows whom.”
Isaac’s jaw tautened. “I didn’t know you were such a snob.”
“I am not,” she protested. “But given his circumstances, I want to be sure he is interested in Celia for something other than her fortune. I watched my daughter marry a man whom she thought loved her, only to discover that he was merely a more skillful fortune hunter than most. I do not want to make that mistake again.”
He sighed. “All right. I suppose I understand your caution. But Pinter? I’ve never seen a less likely fortune hunter. He talks about people of rank with nothing but contempt.”
“And does that not worry you? She is one of those people, after all.”
“What it tells me is that he doesn’t think much of marrying for rank or fortune.”
She gripped his arm. “I suppose. And I must admit that when I hinted I could disinherit her if she married too low-“
“Hetty!”
“I would not do it, mind you. But he does not know that. It is a good way to be sure how he feels about her.”
“You’re playing with fire,” he gritted out. “And what did he say to it?”
“He told me she would never marry anyone as low as him, then tried to convince me to rescind my ultimatum for her so she could marry a man she loved. And that was after I made it clear that it could not be him. He was very eloquent on the subject of what she deserved. Accused me of not knowing her worth, the impertinent devil.”
“Good man, our Pinter,” he muttered.
“I beg your pardon?” she said, bristling.
“A man in love will fight to see that the woman he cares for is given what she deserves, even if he can’t have her.” Isaac eyed her askance. “Even if some meddler has dictated that marrying her would ruin her future forever.”
A chill ran down Hetty’s spine. She had not considered her tactic in quite that light.
“Be careful, my dear,” Isaac said in a low voice. “You’ve been dabbling in your grandchildren’s lives to such good effect you’ve forgotten that the heart is beyond your purview.”
Was he right? "

― Sabrina Jeffries , A Lady Never Surrenders (Hellions of Halstead Hall, #5)