He tore open that from his mother. It began by
gently upbraiding him for getting himself mixed up in the fight between
the smugglers and the revenue men.
"In the next place, my dear boy," she said, "I must scold you, even
more, for not confiding in your mother as to your wishes about your
future profession. Mr. Wilks has opened my eyes to the fact that, while
I have all along been taking it for granted, that your wishes agreed
with mine as to your profession, you have really been sacrificing all
your own inclinations in order to avoid giving me pain. I am very
thankful to him for having opened my eyes, for I should have been
grieved indeed had I found, when too late, that I had chained you down
to a profession you dislike.
"Of course, I should have liked to have had you with me, but in no case
would have had you sacrifice yourself; still less now, when I have met
with such kind friends, and am happy and comfortable in my life.
Therefore, my boy, let us set aside at once all idea of your becoming a
doctor. There is no occasion for you to choose, immediately, what you
will do. You are too old now to enter the royal navy, and it is well
that, before you finally decide on a profession, you have the
opportunity of seeing something of the world.
Pages:
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201