The thought is actual torture to him.
"They said----" _"What ?"_ demands the professor, almost fiercely.

How dare a feeble feminine audience appreciate or condemn his honest efforts to enlighten his small section of mankind! "That you ought to be married," says Perpetua, sympathetically.

"And they said, too, that they supposed you wouldn't ever be now; but that it was a great pity you hadn't a daughter.

_I_ think that too.
Not about your having a wife.

That doesn't matter, but I really think you ought to have a daughter to look after you." This extremely immoral advice she delivers with a beaming smile.
_"I'll_ be your daughter," says she.
The professor goes rigid with horror.