Never had Edward Hazeldine felt so taken aback as at that moment. Not the least odd feature of the affair was the quiet, matter-of-fact tone in which Clement put forward his proposition; had he been arguing some disputed point of anatomy with a fellow-student he could not have been cooler or more self-collected: Mentally and morally the elder brother felt as if a cold-water "douche" had been suddenly sprung upon him. It was not till the silence had lasted fully a couple of minutes that he seemed able to find anything to say.
"You are, of course, in a position to allow your mother and sister two hundred and forty pounds a year out of your income, which is about what your share would come to," he said at length, with a hardly veiled sneer.
Clem flushed a little.
"As circumstances are with me now, it would leave me with a very narrow margin to live upon," he replied; "but even were it still smaller, I would gladly make the sacrifice."
"What about your marriage? I hope you don't forget that the burthen you propose saddling yourself with is not merely a question of a year or two, but of the lifetime of your mother, who, we have every reason to hope and believe, may live for many years to come."
"As for my marriage, it would have to be put off till more prosperous times," replied Clem, not without a stifled sigh.
"Very well; but there is another feature which you may not, perhaps, have considered. Supposing the twelve thousand pounds to have been refunded in accordance with your wish, in the case of my mother's death, how would you propose to make up Fanny's one-third share of it to which she is entitled by my father's will? She may be married before that time, in which case the four thousand pounds she supposes herself to be ultimately entitled to will naturally be considered, both by her and her husband, as a certainty which nothing can deprive them of."
"That is a point which certainly failed to strike me," answered Clem. "But let me answer your question by asking another. Supposing the money not to have been refunded, in case of my mother's death would you be willing to touch your share of an amount to which morally you have no more right than has any of your clerks who are at work in the next room?"
Edward bit his lips.
"No," he said emphatically, after a pause; "in such a case as you speak of, not one shilling of the money would be touched by me."