“Read on,” said Martin, impatiently, and barely able to control himself at this heartless commentary.
“Egad! I 'd have sworn I had read all this before, except these same suggestions about not exacting the rents, building hospitals, and so forth; that is new. And why does she say, 'Don't write by deputy'? Who was your deputy?”
“Kate Henderson has written for me latterly.”
“And I should say she 's quite equal to that sort of thing; she dashes off my mother's notes at score, and talks away, too, all the time she 's writing.”
“That is not the question before us,” said Martin, sternly.
“When I sent for you to read that letter, it was that you might advise and counsel me what course to take.”
“If you can afford to give away a year's income in the shape of rent, and about as much more in the shape of a donation, of course you 're quite free to do it. I only wish that your generosity would begin at home, though; for I own to you I 'm very hard-up at this moment.” This the Captain spoke with an attempted jocularity which decreased with every word, till it subsided into downright seriousness ere he finished.
“So far from being in a position to do an act of munificence, I am sorely pressed for money,” said Martin.
The Captain started; the half-smile with which he had begun to receive this speech died away on his lips as he asked, “Is this really the case?”
“Most truly so,” said Martin, solemnly.