" I sat back in my chair and looked at him, and said
within myself, "Was ever mother blessed with such children; what
may I next expect?" He gave me a quick look, and came over and
took my hand in his, and said, "Now, Mother, do not get excited, and
don't look as if the Heavens were going to fall. I-- well-- thou makest it
hard to tell thee, but I want to marry Kah-li, and I would like a chance
of seeing her as the foreign men see their wives before they marry
them." I said, quite calmly for me, "Thou meanest thou art choosing
thy wife instead of allowing thy father and mother to choose her?" He
said, "Why, yes; I have to live with her and I ought to choose her." I
said nothing-- what is the use? I have learned that my men-folk have
strong minds, which they certainly must have inherited from thine
honourable family. I said that first I would speak to her mother, and if
she approved of her daughter's seeing my son in this most
unbecoming manner, I would do whatsoever he wished in the matter. I
could not wait, but went at once to the house of Wu Tai-tai. We
discussed the matter over many cups of tea, and we saw that we are
but clouds driven by the winds and we must obey.
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