'I,' said the General, 'I say I feel my poor half-pay, having always been
a working soldier myself, very important, I was saying, very important to
me!'
'Why did you retire?'
Her interest in him seemed promising. He replied conscientiously, 'Beyond
the duties of General of Brigade, I could not, I say I could not, dare to
aspire; I can accept and execute orders; I shrink from responsibility!'
'It is a pity,' said she, 'that you were not, like my nephew Reginald,
entirely dependent on your profession.'
She laid such stress on her remark, that the General, who had just
expressed a very modest estimate of his abilities, was unable to reject
the flattery of her assuming him to be a man of some fortune. He coughed,
and said, 'Very little.' The thought came to him that he might have to
make a statement to her in time, and he emphasized, 'Very little indeed.
Sufficient,' he assured her, 'for a gentlemanly appearance.'
'I have given you your warning,' was her inscrutable rejoinder, uttered
within earshot of the young people, to whom, especially to Elizabeth, she
was gracious.
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