Yes, you are right; she
nearly ruined me. And in more senses than one. Poverty and
struggle, under such circumstances, would have made me a
detestable creature. As it is, I am not such a bad fellow, Amy.'
She laughed, and caressed his cheek.
'No, I am far from a bad fellow. I feel kindly to everyone who
deserves it. I like to be generous, in word and deed. Trust me,
there's many a man who would like to be generous, but is made
despicably mean by necessity. What a true sentence that is of
Landor's: "It has been repeated often enough that vice leads to
misery; will no man declare that misery leads to vice?" I have
much of the weakness that might become viciousness, but I am now
far from the possibility of being vicious. Of course there are
men, like Fadge, who seem only to grow meaner the more prosperous
they are; but these are exceptions. Happiness is the nurse of virtue.'
'And independence the root of happiness.'
'True. "The glorious privilege of being independent"--yes, Burns
understood the matter. Go to the piano, dear, and play me
something. If I don't mind, I shall fall into Whelpdale's vein,
and talk about my "blessedness".
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