Even when one is determined, as Helen is, to marry for love and love alone, material considerations creep in. The couple must have something to live on. Her uncle is proving himself more serious than he seemed at first—he wants her to be able to marry the man she loves, but understands the need for financial security more than she does. Helen, of course, has no money of her own. As an aristocratic woman, she is expected to marry into a very precarious form of independence.