Mr. and Mrs. Copeland urged more strongly the propriety of George's return to help his father with the farm, for neither of his brothers had ever liked it, and indeed neither of them could get on with their father. Charles Copeland had gone into business as a seed merchant in a neighbouring town, and had married a rather showy young woman, who, however, had no money. Tom had married better with regard to means; but his wife was sickly and a great care to him, and he was settled at a great distance as a jeweller in a large manufacturing town. It had cost a lot of money to set up both sons in business; indeed George had cost them less than any son they had. The three daughters were all married; the Copelands were (apparently) a marrying family. They had hoped that the eldest daughter might have remained with them, for she was the last to go off; but her fate came upon her in the shape of a fair-spoken commercial traveller, a friend of Tom's, whom he had introduced to his parents to lead to this sad result. So that the old people who had brought up six children saw themselves deserted now in their failing years, and they turned longingly towards their eldest son and the unknown daughter-in-law, of whom they had a strong conviction that she would prove the best of all those introduced by marriage into the
