She replied guardedly, no, or at least nothing in particular, though she might say without conceit that Dorothea might aspire to anybody, even the highest. I cordially agreed, saying that if the male sex had any eye for beauty, charm or loveliness of character, Dorothea might marry not only anybody but everybody. She said she thought persiflage was out of taste when the happiness of a mother's whole life was in question. I begged pardon, but said it was necessary for me to whistle to keep my courage up, for the happiness of _my_ whole life was in question. She said that was beside the point and her daughter's happiness must also be considered. I remarked that her daughter, to my infinite surprise and gratitude, assured me that her happiness lay in the same direction as my own. She vouchsafed the information that Dorothea was a romantic fool. I denied it. She dealt what she considered to be a body-blow by affirming that your property would not be in your hands till you were twenty-one. I replied that I didn't care if it didn't reach you till you were a hundred and twenty-one. She said, "Don't be silly," and asked me if I had ever thought of changing my name back to Forrest from Hogg. I inquired in return if she would mind the loss of six thousand dollars a year, supposing that I should take such a step. She reflected and said that she should, but she would rather lose it than take the name; and that we could rub along on Dorothea's money, she supposed, if that was my idea of a pleasant life. I hastened to say that I would relinquish the six thousand without a pang, confident that I could make a living anyway; but that it would be disloyal to my good old uncle, whose bounty had given me a college course, two years at Oxford and three at Harvard Law School. It had also permitted me to give my services to the United States Shipping Board without compensation. She said she thought it was very selfish in a government to accept a man's whole time and give him no remuneration; that the Secretary of the Treasury had only to say to the banks, "Let there be money," and there was money. There would be plenty for everybody if only the engravers and laborers at the Mint would not strike. I reminded her that men were remunerated sufficiently in being allowed to serve their country in time of war. She returned that she thought that point of view foolish and fantastic, but if she found, after a year, that her daughter's peace of mind was threatened, would I then change my name and live on Dorothea's income until I could establish myself in the practice of the law? She said that I must acknowledge that this was a ridiculously generous proposition and one that neither my talents nor my station in life merited.