human
Oh, Mamma, don't--don't say such things! Tell Blair you take it back. You don't mean it; I know you don't! Disinherit Blair? Oh, it isn't fair! Mamma, please forgive him, please--please--
gpt
My dear, said Sarah Maitland patiently,
human
Nannie looked at her in bewilderment.
gpt
Well, well, we won't go into that, said Mrs. Maitland;
human
Mamma! Wait. You must listen to me! Her stepmother paused, looking at her with mild astonishment. She was like another creature, a little wild creature standing at bay to protect its young.
gpt
You have no right, Nannie said sternly,
human
My dear, I haven't said it was wicked, Blair's mother tried to explain;
gpt
Nannie cringed back, her hand gripping the knob behind her.
human
If Blair had been a hard-working man, knocking up against other hard-working men, trying to get food for his belly and clothes for his nakedness, he'd have been ashamed to play such a trick--he'd have been a man. If I had loved him more I'd have made a man of him; I'd have made work real to him, not make-believe, as I did. And I wouldn't have been ashamed of him, as I am now.
gpt
I think, said Nannie, with one of those flashes of astuteness so characteristic of the simple mind,
human
I guess there's no making you understand, Nannie; you are like your own mother. Come! Open this door! I've got to go to work.
gpt
I must tell you, she said in a low voice:
human
I must not be untruthful to you, Mamma: I will give Blair all I have myself. The money my father left me shall be his; and--and everything I may ever have shall be his.
gpt
Poor little soul! Sarah Maitland said to herself, smiling, as she sat down at her desk in the dining-room.
human
Exactly like her mother! I must give her a present.
gpt
I have no reason to plead Blair's cause, but you're not fair, you know.
human
So Nannie has informed me, she said dryly. Then she leaned back in her chair and tapped her desk with one big finger.
gpt
Go on; say what you like. It won't move me one hair.
human
You've made him what he is. Well, it's done; it can't be undone. But you are rushing to the other extreme; you needn't leave him millions, of course; but leave him a reasonable fortune.
gpt
Perhaps a very small allowance, in fact, to make my will sound I may have to. I must find out about that. But while I'm alive, not one cent. I never expected to be glad his father died before he was born, and so didn't leave him anything, but I am. No, sir; my son can earn what he wants or he can go without. I've got to do my best to make up to him for all the harm I've done him, and this is the way to do it. Now, the next thing is to make my will _sound_. He says he'll contest it --she gave her grunt of amusement.
human
Pity I can't see him do it! I'd like the fun of it. It will be cast-iron. If there was any doubt about it, I would realize on every security I own to-morrow and give it all away in one lump, now, while I'm alive--if I had to go hungry myself afterward! Will you ask Howe and Marston to send their Mr. Marston up here to draw up a new will for me? I want to go to work on it to-night. I've thought it out pretty clearly, but it's a big job, a big job! I don't know myself exactly how much I'm worth--how much I'd clean up to, at any rate. But I've got a list of charities on my desk as long as your arm. Nannie will be the residuary legatee; she has some money from her father, too, though not very much. The Works didn't amount to much when my husband was alive; he divided his share between Nannie and me; he-- ; she paused, reddening faintly with that strange delicacy that lay hidden under the iron exterior;
gpt
David doesn't take money very easily.