c spirit; but that
she might participate in that feeling of his own which had in it so
much that was grand, so much that was delightful, so much that was
picturesque. He would never ask her to be parsimonious,--never even
to be economical. He would take a glory in seeing her well dressed
and well attended, with her own carriage and her own jewels. But she
must learn that the enjoyment of these things must be built upon
a conviction that the most important pursuit in the world was the
acquiring of money. And she must be made to understand, first of all,
that she had a right to at any rate a half of her father's fortune.
He had perceived that she had much influence with her father, and she
must be taught to use this influence unscrupulously on her husband's
behalf.

We have already seen that under the pressure of his thoughts he did
break his first resolution within an hour or two of his marriage. It
is easy for a man to say that he will banish care, so that he may
enjoy to the full the delights of the moment. But this is a power
which none but a savage possesses,--or perhaps an Irishman. We have
learned the lesson from the divines, the philosophers, and the poets.
Post equitem sedet atra cura. Thus was Ferdinand Lopez mounted high
on his horse,--for he had triumphed greatly in his marriage, and
really felt that the world could give him no delight so great as to
have her beside him, and her as his own. But the inky devil sat close
upon his shoulders. Where would he be at the end of three months if
Mr. Wharton would do nothing for him,--and if a certain venture in
guano, to which he had tempted Sexty Parker, should not turn out the
right way? He believed in the guano and he believed in Mr. Wharton,
but it is a terrible thing to have one's whole position in the world
hanging upon either an unwilling father-in-law or a probable rise in
the value of manure! And then how would he reconcile himself to her
if both father-in-law and guano should go against him, and how should
he endure her misery?

The inky devil had forced him to ask the question even before they
had reached Dover. "Does it matter?" she had asked. Then for the time
he had repudiated his solicitude, and had declared that no question
of money was of much consequence to him,--thereby making his future
task with her so much the more difficult. After that he said nothing
to her on the subject on that their wedding day,--but he could not
prevent himself from thinki