human
As to settling your property on her or her children, said the Bishop,
gpt
I shall never marry.
human
Very likely not,--but yet you may. How is a man of your age to speak with certainty of what he will do or what he will not do in that respect? You can make your will, doing as you please with your property;--and the will, when made, can be revoked.
gpt
I think you hardly understand just what I feel, said Roger,
human
But, if she were your daughter, her son wouldn't be your natural heir as long as there was a probability or even a chance that you might have a son of your own. A man should never put the power, which properly belongs to him, out of his own hands. If it does properly belong to you it must be better with you than elsewhere. I think very highly of your cousin, and I have no reason to think otherwise than well of the gentleman whom she intends to marry. But it is only human nature to suppose that the fact that your property is still at your own disposal should have some effect in producing a more complete observance of your wishes.
gpt
I do not believe it in the least, my lord,
human
That is because you are so carried away by enthusiasm at the present moment as to ignore the ordinary rules of life. There are not, perhaps, many fathers who have Regans and Gonerils for their daughters;--but there are very many who may take a lesson from the folly of the old king. 'Thou hadst little wit in thy bald crown,' the fool said to him, 'when thou gav'st thy golden one away.' The world, I take it, thinks that the fool was right.
gpt
I hope all our troubles are over now,
human
You mean about Felix, said Hetta,--
gpt
No, indeed. As to Felix I think that Lady Carbury has done the best thing in her power. No doubt she has been advised by Mr. Broune, and Mr. Broune seems to be a prudent man. And about your mother herself, I hope that she may now be comfortable. But I was not alluding to Felix and your mother. I was thinking of you--and of myself.
human
I hope that you will never have any troubles.
gpt
I have had troubles. I mean to speak very freely to you now, dear. I was nearly upset,--what I suppose people call broken-hearted,--when I was assured that you certainly would never become my wife. I ought not to have allowed myself to get into such a frame of mind. I should have known that I was too old to have a chance.
human
Oh, Roger,--it was not that.
gpt
Well,--that and other things. I should have known it sooner, and have got over my misery quicker. I should have been more manly and stronger. After all, though love is a wonderful incident in a man's life, it is not that only that he is here for. I have duties plainly marked out for me; and as I should never allow myself to be withdrawn from them by pleasure, so neither should I by sorrow. But it is done now. I have conquered my regrets, and I can say with safety that I look forward to your presence and Paul's presence at Carbury as the source of all my future happiness. I will make him welcome as though he were my brother, and you as though you were my daughter. All I ask of you is that you will not be chary of your presence there. She only answered him by a close pressure on his arm.
human
That is what I wanted to say to you. You will teach yourself to regard me as your best and closest friend,--as he on whom you have the strongest right to depend, of all,--except your husband.
gpt
There is no teaching necessary for that,
human
As a daughter leans on a father I would have you lean on me, Hetta. You will soon come to find that I am very old. I grow old quickly, and already feel myself to be removed from everything that is young and foolish.
gpt
You never were foolish.
human
Nor young either, I sometimes think. But now you must promise me this. You will do all that you can to induce him to make Carbury his residence.
gpt
We have no plans as yet at all, Roger.
human
Then it will be certainly so much the easier for you to fall into my plan. Of course you will be married at Carbury?
gpt
What will mamma say?
human
She will come here, and I am sure will enjoy it. That I regard as settled. Then, after that, let this be your home,--so that you should learn really to care about and to love the place. It will be your home really, you know, some of these days. You will have to be Squire of Carbury yourself when I am gone, till you have a son old enough to fill that exalted position.
gpt
Oh, Roger, please do not talk like that.
human
But it is necessary, my dear. I want you to know what my wishes are, and, if it be possible, I would learn what are yours. My mind is quite made up as to my future life. Of course, I do not wish to dictate to you,--and if I did, I could not dictate to Mr. Montague.
gpt
Pray,--pray do not call him Mr. Montague.
human
Well, I will not;--to Paul then. There goes the last of my anger. He threw his hands up as though he were scattering his indignation to the air.
gpt
I would not dictate either to you or to him, but it is right that you should know that I hold my property as steward for those who are to come after me, and that the satisfaction of my stewardship will be infinitely increased if I find that those for whom I act share the interest which I shall take in the matter. It is the only payment which you and he can make me for my trouble.
human
There goes the last of my anger.
gpt
But Felix, Roger!
human
To a sister, he said very solemnly,
gpt
I will not say a word against her brother; but on that subject I claim a right to come to a decision on my own judgment. It is a matter in which I have thought much, and, I may say, suffered much. I have ideas, old-fashioned ideas, on the matter, which I need not pause to explain to you now. If we are as much together as I hope we shall be, you will, no doubt, come to understand them. The disposition of a family property, even though it be one so small as mine, is, to my thinking, a matter which a man should not make in accordance with his own caprices,--or even with his own affections. He owes a duty to those who live on his land, and he owes a duty to his country. And, though it may seem fantastic to say so, I think he owes a duty to those who have been before him, and who have manifestly wished that the property should be continued in the hands of their descendants. These things are to me very holy. In what I am doing I am in some respects departing from the theory of my life,--but I do so under a perfect conviction that by the course I am taking I shall best perform the duties to which I have alluded. I do not think, Hetta, that we need say any more about that.