“It’s yours, Olivia....” He looked at her sharply. “You’re more a Pentland than Anson, in spite of blood ... in spite of name. You’re more a Pentland than any of them. It’s your money by every right in spite of anything you can do.”
(“But Anson isn’t a Pentland, nor you either,” thought Olivia.)
“It’s you who are dependable, who are careful, who are honorable, Olivia. You’re the strong one. When I die, you’ll be the head of the family.... Surely, you know that ... already.”
(“I,” thought Olivia, “I who have been so giddy, who am planning to betray you all.... I am all this!”)
“If I left it to Anson, it would be wasted, lost on foolish ideas. He’s no idea of business.... There’s a screw loose in Anson.... He’s a crank. He’d be giving away this good money to missionaries and queer committees ... societies for meddling in the affairs of people. That wasn’t what this fortune was made for. No, I won’t have Pentland money squandered like that....”
“And I,” asked Olivia. “How do you know what I will do with it?”
He smiled softly, affectionately. “I know what you’ll do with it, because I know you, Olivia, my dear.... You’ll keep it safe and intact.... You’re the Pentland of the family. You weren’t when you came here, but you are now. I mean that you belong to the grand tradition of Pentlands ... the old ones who hang out there in the hall. You’re the only one left ... for Sybil is too young. She’s only a child ... yet.”
Olivia was silent, but beneath the silence there ran a torrent of cold, rebellious thoughts. Being a Pentland, then, was not a matter of blood: it was an idea, even an ideal. She thought fiercely, “I’m not a Pentland. I’m alive. I am myself. I’ve not been absorbed into nothing. All these years haven’t changed me so much. They haven’t made me into a Pentland.” But for the sake of her affection, she could say none of these things. She only said, “How do you know what I’ll do with it? How do you know that I mightn’t squander it extravagantly—or—or even run away, taking all that was free with me. No one could stop me—no one.”
He only repeated what he had said before, saying it more slowly this time, as if to impress her. “I know what you’ll do with it, Olivia, because I know you, Olivia dear—you’d never do anything foolish or shameful—I know that—that’s why I trust you.”
And when she did not answer him, he asked, “You will accept it, won’t you, Olivia? You’ll have the help of a good lawyer ... one of the best ... John Mannering. It will please me, Olivia, and it will let the world know what I think of you, what you have been to me all these years ... all that Anson has never been ... nor my own sister, Cassie.” He leaned across the table, touching her white hand gently. “You will, Olivia?”