would say he sighed well it w so at all events it is plain to her that i am old enough to be her grandfather no i can think of no reason except some exaggerated notion of the gift itself s a thousand pounds to me on the other hand it would have been a great assistance to her it was mad in her to refuse it no mr it was not mad i am doubtful whether she would have taken it in any case though i think it should have been taken had there been no bar to its acceptance in the spirit � a most generous and noble one � in which it was offered ut there was a bar listen miss s father who was buried yesterday and is therefore safe from the reproaches of a man like you was unlike his daughter of the world worldly i know it she is a from a thorn god bless her well being such as he was by bringing up perhaps more than by nature he looked to his daughter s rather than to her happiness he loved her we should remember though to our minds his way of showing it was a mistaken one and his object was to get her married to some rich man no matter how he might be to her in other respects that wish was uppermost in his last moments as i happen to know and i have no doubt that he imparted it to miss very likely said mr but what has all that to do with her refusal of my little gift i should have thought that the advice of such a man would have tended to its acceptance even had it not been his daughter s due undoubtedly it would but don t you see how he made it impossible for her � being what she is � to accept it from your hands not a bit of it i m as much in th et suppose mr thai her x s a from a thorn matrimonial advice he gave ber as to point out some particular individual i know he put his against some one and is it not possible he indicated to her � by name � the person whom he wished her to marry suppose for example it was yourself i indicate me as miss s future husband why what a villain pardon me mr put in quickly do not use a term so harsh in mr s rank of life nothing is more common than this sordid disposal of a daughter s hand and in your case � except for the of years except i broke in the old man indignantly don t talk of exceptions i say that no man dead or alive had any right to take me for such a scoundrel did he think because i have been in india where folks buy their wives in the slave market you are frowning sir and quite right too at my this charming young lady with such an institution it is a to do so even by way of then how much more to think of it as a practical possibility p i was never so much shocked and in my life then how much more think you must miss have been shocked by such a suggestion mr at first no doubt like you she was slow to believe the possibility of the seriousness of her father s project but once having learnt the truth i see i see there is no need to fill up the picture your outline is quite enough mr from my hand of course she could never have taken a sixpence then how much more a thousand pounds said smiling to be sure the more the worse answered the other it must have seemed like an advance of the purchase money i perceive now why the poor girl never wished me good bye it was not for want of gratitude nor respect mr of that you may be sure said and you know how she loved little god bless her yes returned the old man thoughtfully then after a long pause said something about a since mr was so good as to select me for a son in law it may seem to inquire who was the gentleman he did not approve of in that capacity but it is not lor the purpose of over him that i ask the question i suppose not said smiling still it is a private matter and i ought never to have alluded to it you know so much however that you may as well know all upon his mr a promise from that he would never propose to miss unless he had an income of a a year to share it cruel to propose such an arrangement and to � i i to a air explanation and do these two young people love one another i can answer for one of them said gravely you mean of course but what of i do not presume to read her heart answered i think however her father read it which suggested his precaution and will keep his word most undoubtedly showed his knowledge of mankind in trusting to it and the thousand a year he will never acquire the half of it such a is like one of the impossible tasks that are imposed by the evil in fairy tales will do his best and break his heart over it but a thousand a year is not much make it is not much to a nor even to the professional man nay it is not much to make as the phrase goes out of his own head to the man of genius but falls short of that indeed i i thought he was such a clever young man so he is but he is no more a genius than i am he has the same 