She had grown ghastly pale, and her whole face indexed a depth of anguish and despair that baffled utterance.
“My dear child, where do you desire to go? If your wishes are reasonable they shall be granted.”
“Will you persuade Miss Jane to take Jessie in my place, and send me to France or Italy?”
“To study music with the intention of becoming a prima donna?”
“Yes, sir.”
“My young friend, I cannot conscientiously advise a compliance with wishes so fraught with danger to yourself.”
“You fear that my voice does not justify so expensive an experiment?”
“On the contrary, I have not a doubt that your extraordinary voice will lift you to the highest pinnacle of musical celebrity; and, because your career on the stage promises to prove so brilliant, I shudder in anticipating the temptations that will unavoidably assail you.”
“You are afraid to trust me?”
“Yes, my little sister; you are so impulsive, so prone to hearken to evil dictates rather than good ones, that I dread the thought of seeing you launched into the dangerous career you contemplate, without some surer, safer, more infallible pilot than your proud, passionate heart. If you were homely, and a dullard, I should entertain less apprehension about your future.”