The house in which
I found Marian belongs to Sir David, and was lent by him to Mr.
Holbrook."
"I do not know every friend of Forster's. He is a man who picks up his
acquaintance in the highways and byways, and drops them when he is tired
of them."
"Will you tell me, on your honour, that you know nothing of this Mr.
Holbrook?"
"Certainly."
Gilbert Fenton gave a weary sigh, and then seated himself silently
opposite Mr. Saltram. He could not afford to doubt this friend of his.
The whole fabric of his life must have dropped to pieces if John Saltram
had played him false. His single venture as a lover having ended in
shipwreck, he seemed to have nothing left him but friendship; and that
kind of hero-worship which had made his friend always appear to him
something better than he really was, had grown stronger with him since
Marian's desertion.
"O Jack," he said presently, "I could bear anything in this world better
than the notion that you could betray me--that you could break faith with
me for the sake of another man."
"I am not likely to do that. There is no man upon, this earth I care for
very much except you. I am not a man prone to friendship. In fact, I am a
selfish worthless fellow at the best, Gilbert, and hardly merit your
serious consideration. It would be wiser of you to think of me as I
really am, and to think very little of me.
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