outside the church, and had sneaked inside and so up into the organ
loft, where in the course of time the organist became accustomed to him as a
familiar visitant, and the pair became friends.
    It was this which decided Alethæa that the boy was worth taking pains with.
»He likes the best music,« she thought, »and he hates Dr. Skinner; this is a
very fair beginning.« When she sent him away at night with a sovereign in his
pocket (and he had only hoped to get five shillings) she felt as though she had
had a good deal more than her money's worth for her money.
 

                                   Chapter 33

Next day Miss Pontifex returned to town, with her thoughts full of her nephew
and how she could best be of use to him.
    It appeared to her that to do him any real service she must devote herself
almost entirely to him; she must, in fact, give up living in London, at any rate
for a long time, and live at Roughborough where she could see him continually.
This was a serious undertaking; she had lived in London for the last twelve
years, and naturally disliked the prospect of a small country town such as
Roughborough. Was it a prudent thing to attempt so much? Must not people take
their chances in this world? Can anyone do much for anyone else unless by making
a will in his favour and dying then and there? Should not each look after his
own happiness, and will not the world be best carried on if everyone minds his
own business and leaves other people to mind theirs? Life is not a donkey race
in which everyone is to ride his neighbour's donkey and the last is to win, and
the psalmist long since formulated a common experience when he declared that no
man can make agreement for his brother nor make a covenant unto God for him, for
it cost more to redeem their souls, so he must let that alone for ever.
    All these excellent reasons for letting her nephew alone occurred to her and
many more, but against them there pleaded a woman's love for children, and her
desire to find someone among the younger branches of her own family to whom she
could become warmly attached, and whom she could attach warmly to herself.
    Over and above this she wanted someone to leave her money to; she was not
going to leave it to people about whom she knew very little merely because they
happened to be sons and daughters of brothers and sisters whom she had never
liked. She knew the power and value of money exceedingly well, and