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‘It’s too late now even if I did,’ he answered.
During the fortnight he had been back from Germany
there had been much discussion between himself and his
uncle about his future. He had refused definitely to go to
Oxford, and now that there was no chance of his getting
scholarships even Mr. Carey came to the conclusion that
he could not afford it. His entire fortune had consisted of
only two thousand pounds, and though it had been invest-
ed in mortgages at five per cent, he had not been able to
live on the interest. It was now a little reduced. It would be
absurd to spend two hundred a year, the least he could live
on at a university, for three years at Oxford which would
lead him no nearer to earning his living. He was anxious
to go straight to London. Mrs. Carey thought there were
only four professions for a gentleman, the Army, the Navy,
the Law, and the Church. She had added medicine because
her brother-in-law practised it, but did not forget that in her
young days no one ever considered the doctor a gentleman.
The first two were out of the question, and Philip was firm in
his refusal to be ordained. Only the law remained. The local
doctor had suggested that many gentlemen now went in for
engineering, but Mrs. Carey opposed the idea at once.
‘I shouldn’t like Philip to go into trade,’ she said.
‘No, he must have a profession,’ answered the Vicar.
‘Why not make him a doctor like his father?’
‘I should hate it,’ said Philip.
Mrs. Carey was not sorry. The Bar seemed out of the
question, since he was not going to Oxford, for the Careys
were under the impression that a degree was still necessary