"
"That is my own opinion," said his lordship gently.
"It must be. But even if it were not, that would now weigh for
nothing. What weighs - oh, so heavily and bitterly - is the thought
that but for the words in which yesterday I repelled him, he might
have been saved. If only I could have spoken to him again before
he went! I waited for him; but my uncle was with him, and I had no
suspicion that he was going away again. And now he is lost - back
at his outlawry and piracy, in which ultimately he will be taken
and destroyed. And the fault is mine - mine!"
"What are you saying? The only agents were your uncle's hostility
and his own obstinacy which would not study compromise. You must
not blame yourself for anything."
She swung to him with some impatience, her eyes aswim in tears. "You
can say that, and in spite of his message, which in itself tells how
much I was to blame! It was my treatment of him, the epithets I cast
at him that drove him. So much he has told you. I know it to be
true."
"You have no cause for shame," said he.
Pages:
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492