“Object? I did not dream of getting one-tenth as much. It seems to me like a dream.”
“It is a happy dream, mother, and a true one. Father little thought what a handsome legacy he was leaving us when he left us that model.”
“How happy it would have made him had he known it before he died! Tell me how it all happened.”
So Herbert had to tell his mother about his fortunate meeting with Mr. Cameron, and what resulted from it.
“Mr. Cameron is a very honorable man,” he concluded, “for he might easily have offered one-quarter as much, and I should have agreed to it. Now, mother, let me tell you my plans for the future. In the first place, are you willing to leave Wrayburn?”
“I am willing to live anywhere if we are together.”
“Mr. Cameron proposed to me to accept a clerkship in his office, but for the present, I told him, I wished to make up the deficiencies in my education. In the town where he lives there is a flourishing academy. I propose that we move there, and I spend the next two years in study. We shall have a competent income, more than enough to support us, and so I can afford the time.”
“I fully approve of your proposal, Herbert. We may sometime lose our money, but a good education never.”
“I was sure you would agree with me.”
“Shall we have any difficulty in finding a house of suitable size?”