“Very ill?”
“I do not think so. He has been exerting himself too much. He forgets that he has eighty years.”
“He is a wonderful old man,” said Selden. “It is a pity he did not pass on his qualities to his grandson.”
“Perhaps his great-grandson will inherit them,” suggested madame, “and some American ones, as well.”
“I confess,” said Selden, smiling, “that, absurd as it may sound, something like that has been in my mind.”
“How serious you are!” she commented. “Do you plan that far ahead for yourself also?”
“To my great-grandson? Oh, no; I haven’t even got to the children yet!”
“But you expect to marry?”
“Some day, perhaps. But not while I am merely a wandering newspaper man. It wouldn’t be fair to the woman. Some day, I suppose, I shall settle down. The trouble is I don’t want to settle down—not for a long time. You see, I’m like those women you spoke of—not willing to make the necessary sacrifices—without strength of character.”
“You have not even a little friend?” she asked, quite simply.