“I don’t know. I should like to have seen mamma; but she does not need me now as your mother does.”
“Then you are willing to be her daughter?”
“I have tried hard, and she is very kind; but I am far too dull and ignorant for her. I can only wait upon her; but when she has you and Julius to talk to, my stupidity will not matter.”
“Would you be content to devote yourself to her, instead of making a home of our own?”
“She can’t be left alone in that great house.”
“The question is, can you be happy in it? or do you wish for a house to ourselves?”
“You don’t, Miles, it is your own home.”
“That’s not the question.”
“Miles, why do you look at me so?”
“I was told to ascertain your wishes.”