That husband of hers does nothing to add to his
pension, and I know she is in need of all kinds of
things. Roy is on my mind too. Not that his

[153]



VERENA IN THE MIDST



father is not well off, but fathers and sons so
often fail to understand each other, and I feel
sure that the boy, if helped a little, might be-
come serious and develop into a self-supporting
man. At present he seems to do nothing but fall
in and out of love. I do not intend to blame
him for that, but I should like to see more stabil-
ity. He sends me the fullest account of his young
ladies, each of whom is perfect in turn. How
lovely to be young and absurd and not ashamed of
inconstancy! As we grow older we acquire such
stupid cauti(xis. V.
Lxxxvn

Richard Haven to Verena Raby

Look here, Verena, I wish you wouldn't say
fulsome things about my promptness and so forth.
My promptness is sheer self-indulgence, to prevent
the bore of accumulated correspondence. As for
my sagacity, don't be so sure about it. You may
be taken in by my brevity and the confidence of
it all ; and I may be utterly wrong about every-
thing. Why not?

[154]



VERENA IN THE MIDST



Meanwhile, I have to remark that either eveiy-
thing is in the stellar programme (as you so
happily call Fate) or nothing is. If your sug-
gested interference with the bibulous proclivities
of Dr. Else is written there, so is my dissuasion
of you.
