Lawyer Watson sat opposite his old friend for some moments in
thoughtful silence. "The child is impossible." he said, at last.
"You think so?" she enquired, moodily.
"Absolutely. Either of the others would make a better Lady of
Elmhurst. Yet I like the little thing, I confess. She quite won my old
heart after I had known her for five minutes. But money would ruin
her. She's a child of the people, and ought not to be raised from her
proper level. Jane, Jane--you're making a grave mistake in all this.
Why don't you do the only right thing in your power, and leave
Elmhurst to Kenneth?"
"You bore me, Silas," she answered, coldly. "The boy is the most
impossible of all."
It was the old protest and the old reply. He had hardly expected
anything different.
After a period of thought he asked;
"What is this I hear about John Merrick having returned from the
West?"
"He came yesterday. It was a great surprise to me."
"I never knew this brother, I believe."
"No; he had gone away before I became acquainted with either you or
Tom."
"What sort of a man is he?"
"Honest and simple, hard-headed and experienced.
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