ver, he had far too much of the insular
Briton about him to undervalue the kind of prestige which attaches to
one who associates with royal personages and breathes the sacred
atmosphere of money. Sir James was an apple-faced old gentleman, who had
been a miser over his stock of health and strength. He was consequently
ruddy, buoyant, strong, and his good spirits were infectious. He
delighted in the good things of the world; no one could order a dinner
better; no one could better judge a picture; no one had a more pure and
hearty liking for pretty faces;--and it must be added, that few men had
more worldly wisdom of the kind needed for everyday use. He could fool a
humbug to the top of his bent, and he would make use of humbugs, or any
other people, to serve his own ends; but he liked best to meet with
simple, natural folks, and Cassall always took his fancy from the time
of their first meeting onward.

Sir James spent the afternoon in driving with his host, and they
naturally chatted a great deal about Mr. Cassall's new ideas. The
physician listened to his friend's version of Miss Dearsley's eloquence,
and then musingly said, "I don't know that you can do better than take
your niece's advice. The fact is, my dear fellow, you have far too much
money. I have more than I know how to use, and mine is like a drop in
that pond compared with yours. If you leave a great deal to the girl,
you doom her to a life of anxiety and misery and cynicism; she will be
worse off than a female cashier in a draper's shop. If she marries
young, she will he picked up by some embarrassed peer; if she waits till
she is middle-aged, some boy will take her fancy and your money will be
fooled away on all kinds of things that you wouldn't like. This idea, so
far as it has gone in my mind, seems very reasonable. I'm not thinking
of the fishermen at all; that isn't my business at present. I am
thinking of you, and I fancy that you may do a great deal of good, and,
at the same time, raise your position in the eyes of your countrymen.
The most modest of us are not averse to that. Then, again, some
plutocrats buy honours by lavishing coins in stinking, rotten boroughs.
Your honours if they should come to you, will be clean. At any rate, let
us both give these men a fair hearing, and perhaps our worldly
experience may aid them. An enthusiast is sometimes rather a
fiddle-headed chap when it comes to business."

"I don't want my money to be fought over, an