human
No, you are not interrupting me, he began.
gpt
This letter can keep; it is not a business one. I never transact business at home. Then he added, as Jasper sank into the opposite chair,
human
You have been having a long chat with the child. I am glad she is getting fond of you.
gpt
She is a fine girl, said Jasper;
human
When Hinton gets his first brief--not before,
gpt
Well, well, he's a clever chap; I don't see why you should wait for that--he's safe to get on. If I were you, I'd like to see my girl comfortably settled. One can never tell what may happen!
human
What may happen! repeated the elder Harman.
gpt
Do you allude now to the doctor's verdict on myself. I did not wish Charlotte acquainted with it.
human
Pooh! my dear fellow, there's nothing to alarm our girl in that quarter. I'd lay my own life you have many long years before you. No, Charlotte knows you are not well, and that is all she need ever know. I was not alluding to your health, but to the fact that that fine young woman upstairs is, just to use a vulgar phrase, eating her own head off for want of something better to do. She is dabbling in print. Of course, her book must fail. She is full of all kinds of chimerical expedients. Why, this very evening she was propounding the most preposterous scheme to me, as generous as it was nonsensical. No, no, my dear fellow, even to you I won't betray confidence. The girl is an enthusiast. Now enthusiasts are always morbid and unhappy unless they can find vent for their energies. Why don't you give her the natural and healthy vents supplied by wifehood and motherhood? Why do you wait for Hinton's first brief to make them happy? You have money enough to make them happy at once.
gpt
Yes, yes, Jasper--it is not that. It is just that I want the young man not to be altogether dependent on his wife. I am fonder of Hinton than of any other creature in the world except my own child. For his sake I ask for his short delay to their marriage. On the day he brings me news of that brief I take the first steps to settle on Charlotte a thousand a year during my lifetime. I make arrangements that her eldest son inherits the business, and I make further provision for any other children she may have.
human
Well, my dear fellow, all that sounds very nice; and if Hinton was not quite the man he is I should say, 'Wait for the brief.' But I believe that having a wife will only make him seek that said brief all the harder. I see success before that future son-in-law of yours.
gpt
And you are a shrewd observer of character, Jasper,