engaged, to a girl whom you have no intention of marrying--a very
disgraceful position; mine is that I have, with every possible
solemnity, announced a marriage that will not come off--a very
ridiculous position. Very good, my dear Philip; please yourself. I
cannot force you into a disgraceful marriage. But you must not suppose
that you can thus thwart me with impunity. Allow me to show you the
alternative. I see you are tired, but I shall not detain you long.
Take that easy-chair. This house and the land round it, also the
plate, which is very valuable, but cannot be sold--by the way, see
that it is safely locked up before you go to bed--are strictly
entailed, and must, of course belong to you. The value of the entailed
land is about 1000 pounds a year, or a little less in bad times; of
the unentailed, a clear 4000 pounds; of my personal property about 900
pounds. Should you persist in your refusal to marry Miss Lee, or
should the marriage in any way fall through, except from circumstances
entirely beyond your control, I must, to use your own admirably
emphatic language, ask you to 'understand, once and for all,' that,
where your name appears in my will with reference to the unentailed
and personal property, it will be erased, and that of your cousin
George substituted. Please yourself, Philip, please yourself; it is a
matter of entire indifference to me. I am very fond of George, and
shall be glad to do him a good turn if you force me to it, though it
is a pity to split up the property. But probably you will like to take
a week to consider whether you prefer to stick to the girl you have
got hold of up in town there--oh, yes! I know there is some one--and
abandon the property, or marry Miss Lee and retain the property--a
very pretty problem for an amorous young man to consider. There, I
won't keep you up any longer. Good night, Philip, good night. Just see
to the plate, will you? Remember, you have a personal interest in
that; I can't leave it away."