"
"It is not against me," said Ralph. "It would be against me to
have a large property to take care of. It's impossible for a man in my
state of health to spend much money, and enough is as good as a
feast."
"Well, you'll have enough- and something over. There will be more
than enough for one- there will be enough for two."
"That's too much," said Ralph.
"Ah, don't say that. The best thing you can do, when I'm gone,
will be to marry."
Ralph had foreseen what his father was coming to, and this
suggestion was by no means fresh. It had long been Mr. Touchett's most
ingenious way of taking the cheerful view of his son's possible
duration. Ralph had usually treated it facetiously; but present
circumstances proscribed the facetious. He simply fell back in his
chair and returned his father's appealing gaze.
"If I, with a wife who hasn't been very fond of me, have had a
very happy life," said the old man, carrying his ingenuity further
still, "what a life mightn't you have if you should marry a person
different from Mrs. Touchett. There are more different from her than
there are like her." Ralph still said nothing; and after a pause his
father resumed softly: "What do you think of your cousin?"
At this Ralph started, meeting the question with a strained smile.
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