"In little Ralph," she replied. "He will woo Kathleen most effectively by means of the boy. She is very fond of the fine little fellow. I have heard her speak regretfully of his motherless condition, and compare it with her own."
"Kathleen is very differently placed from Captain Torrance's unfortunate child. She is hedged round from evil influences as far as possible. He is constantly exposed to them by the one person, of all others, who ought to protect him—his own father," replied Aylmer.
"True, and here is where John Torrance will work upon Kathleen's tender heart. You know how she cherishes the memory of her parents. She pictures her own beautiful mother during her last years of helplessness, and if she had been likely to forget, Mr. Mountford's efforts would have kept the memory of his wife alive in the child's mind, so long as he lived. She knows what care and love have done to surround her young life with good things, and to keep her 'unspotted from the world.' Kathleen will contrast all she has with what Ralph needs, and has not; John Torrance will never lose an opportunity of talking about the dead wife, and the boy she left him. He will not pose as a good father, but he will as a loving one. He will lament his unworthiness to have the charge of Ralph, though he is his natural guardian. He will say how helpless he is in his loneliness, and that yet he cannot part with his boy, the only comfort left him. He will point out how possible it would be for one, equally beautiful and good, to prove the saviour of the boy, and turn Monk's How into an earthly paradise."
"Probably he will say more against himself, and own that he could never hope to win such a mother for Ralph, because, with the child, she who would act as the 'angel in the house,' must be the father's good angel also. Then such a nature as Kathleen's would be wrought upon, and she would be filled with sweet longings and noble aspirations. She would pity both Captain Jack and his child, and could not be contented without doing something to remedy the evil. She would see lofty possibilities, alike for the boy and his father, and would deem it a glorious privilege if, by dedicating her fortune, her time, her very life, she could turn possibilities into realities."
Hetty paused. She had spoken under a profound conviction of the truth of her impressions, and with an earnestness which convinced her only listener.
"You frighten me, Hetty," said Aylmer. "You have opened my eyes to dangers I never fully realized till now, though a dim notion of them may have flitted across my mind. After all, there is much that strikes me also in the picture you have drawn. The enterprise would be a glorious one, worthy of a pure soul and a noble nature. One could not be surprised that it should have attractions for a girl like Kathleen."
"Only we have to think for her, and to pray that we may be enabled to prevent her from undertaking it. For Kathleen would fail, and make shipwreck of her happiness and her life. I know John Torrance too well to suppose that more than a very temporary impression would be produced on him. If any human influence could have saved him, his wife's would have done it, for he loved her as much as his nature could love one so unlike itself. No, Aylmer. It would sacrifice another life, and leave him where he is, or it may be lower still, were Kathleen to become his wife, for, you see, he would have another fortune to squander."
"That, in any case, could be secured to Kathleen."
"She would not let you secure it. She is just the girl, if she gives aught, to give all. You will be powerless. Now I must go in, for my anxiety about Kathleen has kept me walking round these grounds with you too long already."
"You have been very good, and kind, and wise. I cannot tell you how much I value your advice and your friendship for Kathleen and me, for I know I may count on it."