His father was, as might be expected, seriously disappointed and amazed at the strange direction taken by the boy's inclinations.

No one (including Valentine himself) could ever trace them back to any recognizable source; but everyone could observe plainly enough that there was no hope of successfully opposing them by fair means of any kind.

Seeing this, old Mr.Blyth, like a wise man, at last made a virtue of necessity; and, giving way to his son, entered him, under strong commercial protest, as a student in the Schools of the Royal Academy.
Here Valentine remained, working industriously, until his twenty-first birthday.

On that occasion, Mr.Blyth had a little serious talk with him about his prospects in life.

In the course of this conversation, the young man was informed that a rich merchant-uncle was ready to take him into partnership; and that his father was equally ready to start him in business with his whole share, as one of three children, in the comfortable inheritance acquired for the family by the well-known City house of Blyth and Company.