“Amoreperfectlyjustandrighteouslydealingman。”saidthefamilysolicitor，“Ihaveneverhadanythingtodowith——noronemorepunctualinthedischargeofeverybusinessobligation。”
“Weshallmisshimsadly。”thebishopwrotetoJoeyintheverywarmestterms。Thepoorwereinconsternation。“Thewell’snevermissed。”saidoneoldwoman，“tillit’sdry。”andsheonlysaidwhateveryoneelsefelt。Ernestknewthatthegeneralregretwasunaffectedasforalosswhichcouldnotbeeasilyrepaired。Hefeltthattherewereonlythreepeopleintheworldwhojoinedinsincerelyinthetributeofapplause，andtheseweretheverythreewhocouldleastshowtheirwantofsympathy。ImeanJoey，Charlotte，andhimself。HefeltbitteragainsthimselfforbeingofamindwitheitherJoeyorCharlotteuponanysubject，andthankfulthathemustconcealhisbeingsoasfaraspossible，notbecauseofanythinghisfatherhaddonetohim——thesegrievancesweretoooldtoberememberednow——butbecausehewouldneverallowhimtofeeltowardshimashewasalwaystryingtofeel。Aslongascommunicationwasconfinedtothemerestcommonplaceallwentwell，butiftheseweredepartedfromeversuchalittleheinvariablyfeltthathisfather’sinstinctsshowedthemselvesinimmediateoppositiontohisown。Whenhewasattackedhisfatherlaidwhateverstresswaspossibleoneverythingwhichhisopponentssaid。
Ifhemetwithanycheckhisfatherwasclearlypleased。WhattheolddoctorhadsaidaboutTheobald’sspeakingillofnomanwasperfectlytrueasregardsothersthanhimself，butheknewverywellthatnoonehadinjuredhisreputationinaquietway，sofarashedaredtodo，morethanhisownfather。Thisisaverycommoncaseandaverynaturalone。Itoftenhappensthatifthesonisright，thefatheriswrong，andthefatherisnotgoingtohavethisifhecanhelpit。
Itwasveryhard，however，tosaywhatwasthetruerootofthemischiefinthepresentcase。ItwasnotErnest’shavingbeenimprisoned。Theobaldforgotallaboutthatmuchsoonerthanninefathersoutoftenwouldhavedone。Partly，nodoubt，itwasduetoincompatibilityoftemperament，butIbelievethemaingroundofcomplaintlayinthefactthathehadbeensoindependentandsorichwhilestillveryyoung，andthatthustheoldgentlemanhadbeenrobbedofhispowertoteaseandscratchinthewaywhichhefelthewasentitledtodo。Theloveofteasinginasmallwaywhenhefeltsafeindoingsohadremainedpartofhisnaturefromthedayswhenhetoldhisnursethathewouldkeepheronpurposetotormenther。Isupposeitissowithallofus。AtanyrateIamsurethatmostfathers，especiallyiftheyareclergymen，arelikeTheobald。
Hedidnotinreality，Iamconvinced，likeJoeyorCharlotteonewhitbetterthanhelikedErnest。Hedidnotlikeanyoneoranything，orifhelikedanyoneatallitwashisbutler，wholookedafterhimwhenhewasnotwell，andtookgreatcareofhimandbelievedhimtobethebestandablestmaninthewholeworld。