He wanted his children to be brought up in the fresh pure air, and among
other children who were happy and contented; but being still ignorant of
the fortune that awaited him, he insisted that they should pass their
earlier years among the poor rather than the rich. I remonstrated, but
he was very decided about it; and when I reflected that they were
illegitimate, I was not sure but that what Ernest proposed might be as
well for everyone in the end. They were still so young that it did not
much matter where they were, so long as they were with kindly decent
people, and in a healthy neighbourhood.
"I shall be just as unkind to my children," he said, "as my grandfather
was to my father, or my father to me. If they did not succeed in making
their children love them, neither shall I. I say to myself that I should
like to do so, but so did they. I can make sure that they shall not know
how much they would have hated me if they had had much to do with me, but
this is all I can do. If I must ruin their prospects, let me do so at a
reasonable time before they are old enough to feel it."
He mused a little and added with a laugh:--
"A man first quarrels with his father about three-quarters of a year
before he is born.
Pages:
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598