“Oh! beyond anything great! What brother on earth would do half so much for his sisters, even if really his sisters! And as it is⁠—only half blood!⁠—But you have such a generous spirit!”

“I would not wish to do anything mean,” he replied. “One had rather, on such occasions, do too much than too little. No one, at least, can think I have not done enough for them: even themselves, they can hardly expect more.”

“There is no knowing what they may expect,” said the lady, “but we are not to think of their expectations: the question is, what you can afford to do.”

“Certainly; and I think I may afford to give them five hundred pounds apiece. As it is, without any addition of mine, they will each have about three thousand pounds on their mother’s death⁠—a very comfortable fortune for any young woman.”