Alpha Book

"
"I daresay. After all, why should you risk anything? I suppose it is
simpler to play cards, though I should think it less amusing. I was only
thinking how easy it would be for you to find a serious occupation if
you chose."
Orsino was silent for a moment, and seemed to be thinking over the
matter.
"Would you advise me to enter upon such a business without my father's
knowledge?" he asked presently.
"How can I advise you? Besides, your father would let you do as you
please. There is nothing dishonourable in such things. The prejudice
against business is old-fashioned, and if you do not break through it
your children will."
Orsino looked thoughtfully at Maria Consuelo. She sometimes found an
oddly masculine bluntness with which to express her meaning, and which
produced a singular impression on the young man. It made him feel what
he supposed to be a sort of weakness, of which he ought to be ashamed.
"There is nothing dishonourable in the theory," he answered, "and the
practice depends on the individual.


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