He hissed through his teeth in
unexpectedly figurative style that it would take a lot to persuade him to
"push under the head of a poor devil of a girl quite sufficiently
plucky"--and snorted. He was still gazing at the distant quarry, and I
think he was affected by that sight. I assured him that I was far from
advising him to do anything so cruel. I am convinced he had always
doubted the soundness of my principles, because he turned on me swiftly
as though he had been on the watch for a lapse from the straight path.
"Then what do you mean? That I should pretend!"
"No! What nonsense! It would be immoral. I may however tell you that
if I had to make a choice I would rather do something immoral than
something cruel. What I meant was that, not believing in the efficacy of
the interference, the whole question is reduced to your consenting to do
what your wife wishes you to do. That would be acting like a gentleman,
surely. And acting unselfishly too, because I can very well understand
how distasteful it may be to you. Generally speaking, an unselfish
action is a moral action.
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