"I think it would be splendid," said Comethup. "There are lots of places I've heard of that I should like to see, and if you think----"
"I don't think about it; I've made up my mind. There are people who'll say that a blind old creature, such as I am, ought not to hang like a millstone round a boy's neck; but I think we shall manage to rub along together--eh, Comethup? At the same time"--she held up a warning forefinger--"if you feel any doubts about the matter, or have any other purpose in your mind, out with it. Let's have plain sailing to begin with, and we sha'n't make blunders afterward. I don't want you to be reckless; but you shall have plenty of money, and we can afford to travel in the best style and to go to the best places. I shall trust to you so completely that I intend to put the management of everything in your hands; you shall draw upon me for what you want, and I sha'n't ask you questions. Now what's it to be, Yes or No?"
"Yes, with all my heart," replied Comethup.
"That's good; we'll call it settled. I purpose starting almost immediately, and we shall probably be away for three or four years; but that will depend upon how things turn out. Now let's talk about something else. Did you meet any one else when you were staying with the captain?"
"What! Robert Carlaw? What did _he_ want?"
"I don't think he wanted anything," replied Comethup. "He came to a picnic with us--we didn't invite him, but he came--and was very nice."
"No, Bob wouldn't want any inviting. It's my honest belief that that man will manage to get into heaven one day by sheer bounce; I don't see how they're to keep him out. So he was very nice, was he?"
"Yes, very. He suggested he might be coming to London."
Miss Carlaw nodded her head a great many times. "Oh, I dare say. Well, I'm not going to coerce you, or to control your actions in any way, but I wish you to have nothing to do with that man, or with his son. It may be prejudice, and I dare say it's very wrong; but I don't like him, and I never shall, and they won't do you any good. What's the boy doing?"
"I believe he's in London," said Comethup. "I know he came to London to make his fortune."
"Make his fiddlesticks! That boy'll never make his fortune unless he makes it out of somebody else. I don't want to be uncharitable, Comethup, but he's like his father, and his father shuffles. If you take my advice you'll have nothing to do with either of them. I dare say people would accuse me of injustice, and would say that I ought to have put that boy in the place you occupy. But, in the first place, he's had a father to look after him, and you hadn't; and, in the second place, I'm devilish glad I wasn't such a fool. No, Comethup, I'm quite satisfied with my bargain, and you and I will make the best of life together and have a good time. I look upon you as a man now, although you're young, and shall expect you to behave as a man. Now, I suppose you've spent all your money--there, I don't want to hear details--and want some more? You've left your school days behind now, and I suppose we must treat you differently. Come with me, and we'll see if we can find a cheque for you."