“I am not naturally fond of pets—­which is rather strange; for my solitary life should have made me attach myself to the lower animals.  But perhaps I am not naturally affectionate.  I must cultivate this deficient taste, however; and be assured that anything you have loved will always be cherished by me; and every wish that you may express, or that I can even guess at, that I am allowed to gratify, I will be only too happy to do so.  It has been a strange and stormy introduction we have had to each other; but I am so grateful to you for not hating me, that I chafe still the more at the cruel way in which my hands are tied.  I have consulted several eminent lawyers in the hope of being enabled to overturn my father’s will, but without success.  If a man is not palpably mad he may make as absurd a settlement of his own property as he pleases; and your assertion of your uncle’s peculiar opinions tends to support the validity of the testament.  Though no one thinks that the disposition of the money will serve the end Mr. Hogarth intended, yet he believed it would, and the spirit and intention of the will must be carried out.  Oh, my father! why did you not give me a little love in your lifetime instead of this cursed money after your death?”

“Cousin,” said Jane cheerfully, “I believe you will make a good use of this money.  As my uncle says, you have served well, and should be able to rule justly and kindly.  I do not think so much about the improvement of the property by your taste as of the care you will take of the condition of the people upon it.  This last month has been a hard, but a useful school to me.  I have thought more of the real social difficulties of this crowded country than ever I did before.  Bringing my own talents and acquirements into the market, and finding myself elbowed out by competition, I think of those who have to do the real hard necessary work of the world with more sympathy and more respect.  Not that I ever despised them—­you must not imagine me to be so hard-hearted as that; but my feeling for them is deepened and heightened wonderfully of late.  Now they are apt to say that PARVENUS are of all men the most exacting and the most purse-proud; and that a mistress who has been a servant is harsher to her female dependants than one who has been accustomed to keep domestics all her life.  It is difficult for me to conceive this; but there must be truth in it, or it would not be a proverb in all languages.  You will be an exception, Francis.  You will have my uncle’s real kindness without his crotchets and his dictatorial manner.  You must not be offended if I call you a parvenu in spite of your birth.  You have come suddenly into wealth that you were not brought up to expect.”

“If I do not recollect my past life, I will certainly remember your present advice whenever I am tempted to think too much of myself and too little of others.”

“Everything is to lead to the perfecting of your character, you see,” said Jane.