The World of Chance by William Dean Howells

Ray's heart sank. He was so anxious to get at those opinions; and yet he / did not like to refuse Mr. Brandreth; a little thing might prejudice the / case; he ought to make all the favor at court that he could for his / book. "I -- I'm afraid it mightn't be convenient -- at such a time -- for Mrs. / Brandreth" --

"Oh, yes it would," said Mr. Brandreth in the same desperate note. "Come / along. I don't know that Mrs. Brandreth will be able to see you, but I / want you to see my boy; and we can have a bachelor bite together, / anyway."

Ray yielded, and the stories of the baby began again when he moved on / with Mr. Brandreth. It was agony for him to wrench his mind from his / story, which he kept turning over and over in it, trying to imagine what / the readers had differed about, and listen to Mr. Brandreth saying, / "Yes, sir, I believe that child knows his grandmother and his nurse / apart, as well as he knows his mother and me. He's got his likes and his / dislikes already: he cries whenever his grandmother takes him. / By-the-way, you'll see Mrs. Chapley at dinner, I hope. She's spending / the day with us."

"Oh, I'm very glad," said Ray, wondering if the readers objected to his / introduction of hypnotism.

"She's a woman of the greatest character," said Mr. Brandreth, "but she / has some old-fashioned notions about children. I want my boy to be / trained as a boy from the very start. I think there's nothing like a / manly man, unless it's a womanly woman. I hate anything masculine about / a girl; a girl ought to be yielding and gentle; but I want my boy to be / self-reliant from the word Go. I believe in a man's being master in his / own house; his will ought to be law, and that's the way I shall bring up / my boy. Mrs. Chapley thinks there ought always to be a light in the / nurse's room, but I don't. I want my boy to get used to the dark, and / not be afraid of it, and I shall begin just as soon as I can, without / seeming arbitrary. Mrs. Chapley is the best soul in the world, and of / course I don't like to differ with her."

"Of course," said Ray. The mention of relationship made him think of the / cousin in his story; if he had not had the cousin killed, he thought it / would have been better; there was too much bloodshed in the story.

They turned into a cross-street from Lexington Avenue, where they had / been walking, and stopped at a pretty little apartment-house, which had / its door painted black and a wide brass plate enclosing its key-hole, / and wore that air of standing aloof from its neighbors peculiar to / private houses with black doors and brass plates.

Mr. Brandreth let himself in with a key. "There are only three families / in our house, and it's like having a house of our own. It's so much / easier living in a flat for your wife, that I put my foot down, and / wouldn't hear of a separate house."

They mounted the carpeted stairs through the twilight that prevails in / such entries, and a sound of flying steps was heard within the door / where Mr. Brandreth applied his latch-key again, and as he flung it open / a long wail burst upon the ear.

"Hear that? " he asked, with a rapturous smile, as he turned to Ray for / sympathy; and then he called gayly out in the direction that the wail / came from; "Oh, hello, hello, hello! What's the matter, what's the / matter? You sit down here," he said to Ray, leading the way forward into / a pretty drawing-room. He caught something away from before the fire. / "Confound that nurse! She's always coming in here in spite of / everything. I'll be with you in a moment. Heigh! What ails the little / man? " he called out, and disappeared down the long narrow corridor, and / he was gone a good while.

At moments Ray caught the sound of voices in hushed, but vehement / dispute; a door slammed violently; there were murmurs of expostulation. / At last Mr. Brandreth reappeared with his baby in his arms, and its / nurse at his heels, twitching the infant's long robe into place.

"What do you think of that? " demanded the father, and Ray got to his / feet and came near, so as to be able to see if he could think anything.

By an inspiration he was able to say, "Well, he _is_ a great fellow! " / and this apparently gave Mr. Brandreth perfect satisfaction. His son's / downy little oblong skull wagged feebly on his weak neck, his arms waved / vaguely before his face.

"Now give him your finger, and see if he won't do the infant Hercules / act."

Ray promptly assumed the part of the serpent, but the infant Hercules / would not open his tightly-clinched, wandering fist.

"Try the other one," said his father; and Ray tried the other one with / no more effect. "Well, he isn't in the humor; he'll do it for you some / time. All right, little man! " He gave the baby, which had acquitted / itself with so much distinction, back into the arms of its nurse, and it / was taken away.

"Sit down, sit down! " he said, cheerily. "Mrs. Chapley will be in / directly. It's astonishing," he said, with a twist of his head in the / direction the baby had been taken, "but I believe those little things / have their moods just like any of us. That fellow knows as well as you / do, when he's wanted to show off, and if he isn't quite in the key for / it, he won't do it. I wish I had tried him with my hat, and let you see / how he notices."