And here he must make a speech for himself
and his wife, praising their destiny, their marriage, their son,
their daughter-in-law, their grandchildren, their manifold causes
of gratitude: surely the most innocent speech, the old, sharp
contemner of his innocence now watching him with eyes of
admiration. Then it was time for the guests to depart; and they
went away, bathed, even to the youngest child, in tears of
inseparable sorrow and gladness, and leaving the golden bride and
bridegroom to their own society and that of the hired nurse.
It was a great thing for Fleeming to make, even thus late, the
acquaintance of his father; but the harrowing pathos of such scenes
consumed him. In a life of tense intellectual effort, a certain
smoothness of emotional tenor were to be desired; or we burn the
candle at both ends. Dr. Bell perceived the evil that was being
done; he pressed Mrs. Jenkin to restrain her husband from too
frequent visits; but here was one of those clear-cut, indubitable
duties for which Fleeming lived, and he could not pardon even the
suggestion of neglect.
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