The Scarlet Letters Read Online Free PDF Page A

in danger of one?"
    "No, no, dear boy, I'm merely stating a principle. Though of course you're a handsome enough young fellow. And unattached, too. There are uncles who might say, If the shoe fits, wear it."
    "It seems to me you just have."
    "Well, there's no harm done, in any case. But that isn't the real matter I have to discuss with you today. I want you to go to Boston and do a little job for me. I say a little job, though it may take three or four weeks. You've heard of the Reverend Philemon Shattuckup there?"
    "The great preacher? Yes, of course."
    "He's not only a great preacher and an old Harvard classmate of mine, but, like many Massachusetts divines, he's a gentleman of considerable wealth. There's a rather messy and nasty accounting proceeding going on there involving the estate of a bachelor brother of his, a mistress claiming this and that, and so forth. He doesn't want to get too much involved in it, though of course he and his sisters have to put in appearances, but he wants a smart lawyer to keep an eye on what's going on and check on the family counsel, in whom he has limited confidence. That's where you come in. I know you haven't been admitted up there, but you can attend the hearings as his private watchdog and tell him if you think it's advisable to send in additional troops."
    "But won't the family counsel object?"
    "They needn't even know about it. And if they do find out, so what? Nobody's going to pick a row with Dr. Shattuck. You'll be staying with him and his family. It's a mansion on Commonwealth Avenue, and I've no doubt you'll find yourself very comfortable. Besides, there are five unmarried daughters, all reasonably attractive."
    "Do you suggest I might have my pick of them?"
    "I shouldn't be surprised. A strapping New York attorney could be a rather tempting morsel to a closely guarded Boston debutante. Of course, there are a couple of brothers, and a seven-way division can wreak havoc on a family fortune, but plenty of those saving Bostonians are even richer than generally supposed."
    "Do I strike you as so mercenary, sir?"
    "You don't strike me as anything, silly boy. Can't you see I'm talking in generalities?"
    "But if the shoe fits...?"
    "Exactly! Then wear it!"
    "Have you any advice as to which daughter I should start on?"
    "You'll want me to propose for you next!" Uncle Charley retorted with a gruff laugh. "But seriously, Ambrose, and coming down to individualities, it's time you thought of settling down. I've always said that an associate is less valuable to us both in the year that he's courting and in the one following his marriage, so let's get that period behind us as soon as we can. For I don't have to tell such a smart aleck as you that you have a future in this firm!"
    Ambrose smiled to himself at the idea obviously in his uncle's mind that he had to be got away from the pretty client before she jeopardized his career, but he knew it would do him no harm to be considered something of a philanderer provided he did not carry it too far. He lightheartedly adapted himself to his new role and journeyed north to visit the Shattucks.
    The house was as impressively strong as its famous architect, Henry H. Richardson, could make it; its stout red brick appearance and heavy Romanesque arches suggested that the zealous faith which it enshrined was ready to be militantly defended against any heresies that managed to flourish, even in the frosty New England air. The Reverend Philemon Shattuck, a hearty man of God, made Ambrose robustly welcome in a female household ruled but by no means cowed by its ebullient head, and he found himself almost at once congenial with the middle one of the five daughters. Harriet, or "Hetty," was a pert, pale-faced and somewhat diminutive young lady, with unwaved auburn hair and darting, shrewdly observing black eyes, not indeed particularly pretty but alive, alert and voluble. He also noted the perfect family unity and good will: the other four, having noted her