A lady
may do good, we know that; but she can't be the friend of the poor
as I understand it; there's too great a distance between her world
and theirs. Can you picture to yourself how anxiously I've watched
this child from the first day she came to live with me? I've
scarcely had a thought but about her. I saw very soon that she had
good feelings, and I set myself to encourage them. I wanted her to
be able to read and write, but there was no need of any more
education than that; it was the heart I cared about, not the mind.
Besides, I had always to keep saying to myself that perhaps, after
all, she wouldn't turn out the kind of woman I wished, and in that
case she mustn't be spoiled for an ordinary life. Sidney, it's this
money that has made me a weak old man when I might still have been
as strong as many at fifty; the care of it has worn me out; I
haven't slept quietly since it came into my hands. But the worst is
over. I shan't be disappointed. Jane will be the woman I've hoped
for, and however soon my own life comes to an end, I shall die
knowing that there's a true man by her side to help her to make my
idea a reality.
'I've mentioned Mr.
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