There is nothing like marriage. It probably
is not quite as transcendental an affair as you think. That's the
mistake which intellectual people so often make--it's a very
natural and obvious thing--and of course it means far more to a
woman than to a man. But life is not complete without it. It is the
biggest fact which happens to us. I only want you just to keep it
in your mind as a possibility. Don't be afraid of it! My husband
was your age when he married me, and though I was very unreasonable
in those days, I am sure it was a happy thing for him, though he
thought he was too old. There, I don't want to press you, in this
or in anything. I do not think you will be happy living here
without a wife, even if you go on with Cambridge. But one can't
mould things to one's wishes. My fault is to want to organise
everything for everybody, and I have made all my worst blunders so.
I hope I have given up all that. But if I live to see it, the day
when you come and tell me that you have won a wife will be the next
happiest day to the day when I found a son of my heart. There, dear
boy, I won't sentimentalise; but that's the truth; I shall wake up
to-morrow and for many days, feeling that some good fortune has
befallen me; but we should have found each other some time, even if
I had been a poor and miserable old woman. You have given me all
that I desired; give me a daughter too, if you can!"
"Well," said Howard, smiling, "I have no theory on the subject.
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