All these excellent reasons for letting her nephew alone occurred to her,
and many more, but against them there pleaded a woman's love for
children, and her desire to find someone among the younger branches of
her own family to whom she could become warmly attached, and whom she
could attach warmly to herself.
Over and above this she wanted someone to leave her money to; she was not
going to leave it to people about whom she knew very little, merely
because they happened to be sons and daughters of brothers and sisters
whom she had never liked. She knew the power and value of money
exceedingly well, and how many lovable people suffer and die yearly for
the want of it; she was little likely to leave it without being satisfied
that her legatees were square, lovable, and more or less hard up. She
wanted those to have it who would be most likely to use it genially and
sensibly, and whom it would thus be likely to make most happy; if she
could find one such among her nephews and nieces, so much the better; it
was worth taking a great deal of pains to see whether she could or could
not; but if she failed, she must find an heir who was not related to her
by blood.
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