CHAPTER XXXVI.
THEN THEY WERE MARRIED.
When he bade Alice good-by for a week, Quincy was keeping a promise he
had made to his father. The second evening before he had spent with his
family at Nahant, and while he was smoking an after-dinner cigar upon
the veranda, the Hon. Nathaniel had joined him.
"Quincy," said the latter, "I must ask you when you intend to resume
your professional duties. You are now restored to health, and it is my
desire that you do so at once."
"While I would not wilfully show disrespect to your wishes, father,"
said Quincy, calmly, "I must say frankly that I do not care to go back
to the office. The study of law is repugnant to me, and its practice
would be a daily martyrdom."
"What!" cried the Hon. Nathaniel, starting in his chair. "Perhaps, sir,
you have fixed upon a calling that is more elevated and ennobling than
the law."
"One more congenial, at any rate," remarked Quincy.
"Then you have chosen a profession," said his father with some
eagerness. "May I inquire what it is?"
"It can hardly be called a profession," he answered.
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