human
Christopher, we will not blame you, resumed Mr. Sharp, rather hastily, for fear that his wife should jump up and spoil all.
gpt
Our object in calling you is not that. You have acted according to our wishes mainly, though you need not have done it so furtively. You have formed an attachment to a certain young lady, who leads for the present a retired life, in a quiet part of the old Stow Wood. And she returns your affection. Is it so, or is it not?
human
I--I--I, stammered Kit, seeking for his mother's eyes, which had buried themselves in her handkerchief.
gpt
I can't say a word about what she thinks. She--she--she has got such a fashion of running away so. But I--I--I--well, then, it's no good telling a lie about it; I am deucedly fond of her!
human
That is exactly what I wished to know; though not expressed very tastefully. Well, and do you know who she is, my son?
gpt
Yes, I know all that quite well; as much as any fellow wants to know. She is a young lady, and she knows all the flowers, and the birds, and the names of the trees almost. She can put me right about the kings of England; and she knows my dogs as well as I do.
human
A highly accomplished young lady, in short?
gpt
Yes, I should say a great deal more than that. I care very little for accomplishments. But--but if I must come to the point--I do like her, and no mistake!
human
Then you would not like some other man to come, and run away with her, quite against her will?
gpt
That man must run over my body first,
human
Well, well, my boy, continued the good lawyer,
gpt
Father, I would not say anything strong; but I would go on my knees, all the way from here to there, for the smallest chance of getting her!
human
Very good. That is as it should be. I would have done the very same for your dear mother. Mamma, you have often reminded me of it, when anything--well, those are reminiscences; but they lie at the bottom of everything. A mercenary marriage is an outrage to all good feeling.
gpt
She has not got a sixpence, father; she told me so. She makes all the bread, and she puts by all the dripping.
human
My dear boy, you know then what a good wife is. Mamma, we shall have to clear out the room where the rocking-horse is, and the old magic-lantern, and let this young couple go into it.
gpt
My dear, it would be a long job; and there are a great many cracks in the paper; but still we could have in old Josephine.
human
Those are mere details, Momma. But this is a serious question; and the boy must not be hurried. He may not have made up his mind; or he may desire to change it to-morrow. He is too young to have any settled will; and there is no reason why he should not wait----
gpt
Not a day will I wait--not an hour would I wait; in ten minutes I could pack everything!
human
He might wait for a twelvemonth, my dear Miranda, and sound his own feelings, and the young girl's too, if we could only be certain that the young man of rank, with the four bay horses, was not in earnest when he swore to carry her off to-morrow.
gpt
My dear husband, Mrs. Sharp said, softly;
human
I tell you what it is, Kit almost shouted, with his fist upon the sacred desk;
gpt
Exactly, exactly, he said, as he always said when a thing had come up to his reckoning;
human
Oh, Luke, are you sure that it will all go aright?
gpt
Miranda, tell me anything we can be sure of, and you will have given me a new idea. And I want ideas; I want them sadly. My power of invention is failing me, or at any rate that of combining my inventions. You did not observe that I was nervous, did you?
human
Nervous! Luke--you nervous! I should think that the end of the world was coming if I saw any nervousness in you! And in the presence of a boy, indeed----
gpt
My dear wife, I will give you my word that I felt--well, I will not say 'nervous,' if you dislike it--but a little uncomfortable, and not quite clear, when I saw how Kit was taking things. Real affection is a dreadful thing. I did not want so much of it. I meant to have told him who she is, till the turn of things made me doubt about it. But he is quite up for anything now, I believe, though he must be told before he goes. He is such a calf that he must not imagine that she has a sixpence to bless herself. He would fly off in a moment if he guessed the truth. He must know her name; and that you must tell him; and you know how to explain it all a thousand-fold better than I do.
human
Possibly I do, replied Mrs. Sharp;
gpt
I may have some very few ideas of my own; although according to you, Mr. Sharp, I am only the mother of a calf!
human
Very well said, my dear. And I have the honour of being his father.