if it had been on anybody's
account but Edna's? Do you suppose I'd have let you go to Boston twice
as often as was necessary, if I hadn't approved? Yes, _sir_." The
speaker struck his desk, with a sharp snap of Sylvia's letter. "I
_approve_. If a man must marry, let him accomplish something by it.
None of this Tennyson village maid business. Let him find a girl with
money and position and the right sort of connections that will do him
some good and give him a lift in the world. Marriage ought to have some
frosting besides what's on the wedding cake. Folks dream on that, and
very appropriately. It's the stuff dreams are made of, in more senses
than one; and after that flimsiness is over, there ought to be
something substantial left. Just as many attractive girls who have
something as that haven't. It's sheer perversity when a poor young man
sets his heart on additional poverty. Let the Cophetuas have a corner
on the beggar maids; but let poor men, and especially young lawyers,
get busy elsewhere."

At the beginning of this tirade John had looked up in surprise. At its
close he was smiling meditatively at the dingy wall.

"Poor men, even young lawyers, have their pride," he remarked, when the
judge had finished.

"Stuff and nonsense. That's another false standard set up by the poets.
You're an orphan, John, nobody nearer, as I understand it, than an
uncle or an aunt here and there, and that's one reason I'm talking to
you like a father. Another reason is that you've been a trump in your
relations with me. You've served me well; but besides that, I haven't
been insensible to the civility you've shown Sylvia. You've scarcely
ever been in Boston without looking in on her and bringing me the
latest bulletin. Do you suppose I haven't appreciated how often you and
Edna have added her to the outings you've had together, theatres, and
concerts, and all that business? Very expensive, and very bad judgment,
all that, if it hadn't been justified by such an end in view as Edna
herself. Now, you take it from me: I've lived a good deal longer than
you, and I've seen a host of folks get married, even if I haven't got
in the game myself; and when a rich woman wants a man, it's blind
foolishness to keep her waiting while he builds up his bank account.
Let him build it up afterward. No law against that. I've observed a
number of signs, Boy, that show that your habits and tastes are
extravagant; then the more reason that you should act,