“What do you mean by rich?”
“I call people rich when they’re able to meet the requirements of their imagination. Isabel has a great deal of imagination.”
“So have you, my son,” said Mr. Touchett, listening very attentively but a little confusedly.
“You tell me I shall have money enough for two. What I want is that you should kindly relieve me of my superfluity and make it over to Isabel. Divide my inheritance into two equal halves and give her the second.”
“To do what she likes with?”
“Absolutely what she likes.”
“And without an equivalent?”
“What equivalent could there be?”
“The one I’ve already mentioned.”
“Her marrying—some one or other? It’s just to do away with anything of that sort that I make my suggestion. If she has an easy income she’ll never have to marry for a support. That’s what I want cannily to prevent. She wishes to be free, and your bequest will make her free.”