"
"Not to you, perhaps; but he is giving the matter very careful
consideration, and later he hopes--"
"Mother dear, that is so indefinite!" Pauline broke in. "And I can't
see--Father is Uncle Paul's only brother! If I were rich, and Hilary
were not and needed things, I would want her to let me know."
"It is possible, that under certain conditions, Hilary would not wish
you to know." Mrs. Shaw hesitated, then she said slowly, "You know,
Pauline, that your uncle is much older than your father; so much older,
that he seemed to stand--when your father was a boy--more in the light
of a father to him, than an older brother. He was much opposed to your
father's going into the ministry, he wanted him to go into business
with him. He is a strong-willed man, and does not easily relinquish
any plan of his own making. It went hard with him, when your father
refused to yield; later, when your father received the call to this
parish, your uncle quite as strongly opposed his accepting it--burying
himself alive in a little out-of-the-way hole, he called it. It came
to the point, finally, on your uncle's insisting on his making it a
choice between himself and Winton. He refused to ever come near the
place and the two or three letters your father wrote at first remained
unanswered.
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