money on her that he intended to at present, and he wanted her to go to work. As an investment he did not consider Mary a success. Her letters intimated very strongly her intention not to return to Miss Smith‚Äôs School; but they also brought information‚ÅÝ‚Äîdisjointed and incomplete, to be sure‚ÅÝ‚Äîwhich mightily interested Mr. ¬ÝTaylor and sent him to atlases, encyclop√¶dias, and census-reports. When he went to that little lunch with old Mrs. ¬ÝGrey he was not sure that he wanted his sister to leave the cotton-belt just yet. After lunch he was sure that he did not want her to leave.
The rich Mrs. ¬ÝGrey was at the crisis of her fortunes. She was an elderly lady, in those uncertain years beyond fifty, and had been left suddenly with more millions than she could easily count.
Personally she was inclined to spend her money in bettering the world right off, in such ways as might from time to time seem attractive.
This course, to her husband‚Äôs former partner and present executor, Mr. ¬ÝEdward Easterly, was not only foolish but wicked, and, incidentally, distinctly unprofitable to him. He had expressed himself strongly to Mrs. ¬ÝGrey last night at dinner and had reinforced his argument by a pointed letter written this morning.
To John Taylor
Mrs. ¬ÝGrey‚Äôs disposal of the income was unbelievable blasphemy against the memory of a mighty man.
He did not put this in words to Mrs. ¬ÝGrey‚ÅÝ‚Äîhe was only head clerk in her late husband‚Äôs office‚ÅÝ‚Äîbut he became watchful and thoughtful.
He ate his soup in silence when she descanted on various benevolent schemes.