casting problem

[husain]

I have an XML file that stores a font name and font size that I retrieve and store into variables of type string.

string FontName  = [ all_the_XML_objects ].Value;
string FontSize  = [ all_the_XML_objects ].Value;

MessageBox.Show(FontName);   // Shows Lucida Console
MessageBox.Show(FontSize);   // Shows 9

System.Drawing.Font newFont = new System.Drawing.Font(FontName, (float) FontSize);
// While compiling, the above line gives an error:
// Cannot convert type 'string' to 'float'

I would be grateful if anyone could help me out with this.