Ineverbelievedintheproject，andhaveseennoreasontoaltermyoriginalopinion。Iamnotsorryforyourownsake，thatitistobeatanend，nor，Iamsure，willyouregretityourselfinafteryears。
“Afewwordsmoreasregardsyourownprospects。Youhave，asI
believeyouknow，asmallinheritance，whichisyourslegallyunderyourgrandfather’swill。Thisbequestwasmadeinadvertently，and，Ibelieve，entirelythroughamisunderstandingonthelawyer’spart。
Thebequestwasprobablyintendednottotakeeffecttillafterthedeathofyourmotherandmyself；nevertheless，asthewillisactuallyworded，itwillnowbeatyourcommandifyoulivetobetwenty-oneyearsold。Fromthis，however，largedeductionsmustbemade。Therewillbelegacyduty，andIdonotknowwhetherIamnotentitledtodeducttheexpensesofyoureducationandmaintenancefrombirthtoyourcomingofage；Ishallnotinalllikelihoodinsistonthisrighttothefull，ifyouconductyourselfproperly，butaconsiderablesumshouldcertainlybededucted，therewillthereforeremainverylittle——say1000poundsor2000poundsattheoutside，aswhatwillbeactuallyyours——butthestrictestaccountshallberenderedyouinduetime。
“This，letmewarnyoumostseriously，isallthatyoumustexpectfrommeevenErnestsawthatitwasnotfromTheobaldatallatanyratetillaftermydeath，whichforaughtanyofusknowmaybeyetmanyyearsdistant。Itisnotalargesum，butitissufficientifsupplementedbysteadinessandearnestnessofpurpose。YourmotherandIgaveyouthenameErnest，hopingthatitwouldremindyoucontinuallyof——“butIreallycannotcopymoreofthiseffusion。Itwasallthesameoldwill-shakinggameandcamepracticallytothis，thatErnestwasnogood，andthatifhewentonashewasgoingonnow，hewouldprobablyhavetogoaboutthestreetsbeggingwithoutanyshoesorstockingssoonafterhehadleftschool，oratanyrate，college；andthathe，Theobald，andChristinawerealmosttoogoodforthisworldaltogether。