'Nothing against her character, but she'd not be a fit wife for Frank. These Southern women are educated with wrong ideas—they make poor wives for poor men. He must marry a rich girl, or one brought up with New-England habits. This one would bring him nothing, and spend all he made.'
'But she is an only child, and her father is rich.'
'Pshaw! that is bosh! Preston always lived high, and I'll guarantee his estate is bankrupt. I'm sorry for it, for he owes us.'
'Is that so! Largely?' 'No, not largely; how much is he overdrawn, David?'
'Eighty-two hundred and odd.'
'I'm surprised at that,' I said. 'The old house did not allow such things.'
'Neither do we; 'twas Cragin's work. He thought 'twould annoy Frank if the drafts went back, and'—he hesitated a moment—'he insisted upon it.'
'I am opposed to interfering in such matters. I always taught Frank to think for himself,' I remarked.
'You taught him to think too much for himself. He is self-willed and headstrong to a fault.'
'Perhaps his father might have trained him better, if—he had tried,' I replied, with a slight sneer.