with adulation now that you are wealthy. Oh, yes, you will find that
wealth makes a great difference, Billy. But not with Adèle and
me--no, dear boy, despise us if you will, but my child and I are not
mercenary. Money makes no difference with us; we shall be the same to
you that we always were--sincerely interested in your true welfare,
overjoyed at your present good fortune, prayerful as to your brilliant
future, and delighted to have you drop in any evening to dinner. We do
not consider money the chief blessing of life; no, don't tell me that
most people are different, Billy, for I know it very well, and many is
the tear that thought has cost me. We live in a very mercenary world,