"Friend," said Lala, "was it well to hide this from me?"
"Foolish people," Mr. Emblem went on, "have spread reports that I am rich, and have saved money for Iris. It is not true, Mr. Arbuthnot. I am not rich. Iris will come to you empty-handed."
"And as for me, I have nothing," said Arnold, "except a pair of hands and all the time there is. So we have all to gain and nothing to lose."
"You have your profession," said Iris, "and I have mine. Grandfather, do not fear, even though we shall all four become poor together."
It seemed natural to include Lala Roy, who had been included with them for twenty years.
"As for Iris being empty-handed," said Arnold, "how can that ever be? Why, she carries in her hands an inexhaustible cornucopia, full of precious things."
"My dear," said the old man, holding out his arms to her, "I could not keep you always. Some day I knew you would leave me; it is well that you should leave me when I am no longer able to keep a roof over your head."
"But we shall find a roof for you, grandfather, somewhere. We shall never part."
"The best of girls always," said Mr. Emblem; "the best of girls! Mr. Arbuthnot, you are a happy man."
Then the Sage lifted up his voice and said solemnly: