"And I was not stupid?"
"You? The brightest and cleverest lad in the whole world—you stepped into the place I made for you as if you had been born for it. Now tell me why you wish to step out of it."
"Like you, sir I have many motives. Partly, I am greatly interested in my own people; partly, I am interested in the place itself and its ways; partly, I am told, and I believe, that there is a great deal which I can do there—do not laugh at me."
"I am not laughing, Harry; I am only astonished. Yes, you are changed, your eyes are different, your voice is different. Go on, my boy."
"I do not think there is much to say—I mean, in explanation. But of course I understand—it is a part of the thing—that if I stay among them I must be independent. I could no longer look to your bounty, which I have accepted too long. I must work for my living."
"Work! And what will you do?"
"I know a lot of things, but somehow they are not wanted at Stepney, and the only thing by which I can make money seems to be my lathe—I have become a cabinet-maker."
"Heavens! You have become a cabinet-maker? Do you actually mean, Harry, that you are going to work—with your hands—for money?"
"Yes; with my hands. I shall be paid for my work; I shall live by my work. The puddle blood, you see."
"No, no," said Lord Jocelyn, "there is no proof of puddle blood in being independent. But think of the discomfort of it."