one before one
`` I suppose , '' he said , `` that what is in every book that ever was written is likely to be true ! But that has nothing to do with the question . I wo n't do anything against you if you forbid me absolutely , granny ; but short of that I will go -- '' Mrs. Dennistoun looked at the boy with all the heat in him of his first burst of independence . It is only wise to compute the forces opposed to one before one launches a command which one may not have force to ensure obedience to . He said that he would not disobey her `` absolutely '' with his lips ; but his eyes expressed a less dutiful sentiment . She had no mind to be beaten in such a struggle . Elinor had complained of her mother in her youth that she was too reasonable , too unwilling to command , too reluctant to assume the responsibility of an act ; and it was not to be supposed that she had mended of this , in all the experience she had had of her impatient daughter , and under the influence of so many additional years .