God forbid that any whisper of scandal
should ever reach Lady Lesbia's ears.'
He ignored poor Mary. It was to him as if there were no such person. Her
feeble light was extinguished by the radiance of her sister's beauty;
her very individuality was annihilated.
'As for you, dear old fellow,' he said, with warm affection, 'no one
will ever think the worse of you on account of your grandfather's
peccadilloes.'
'Yes, they will. Hereditary genius is one of our modern crazes. When a
man's grandfather was a rogue, there must be a taint in his blood.
People don't believe in spontaneous generation, moral or physical,
now-a-days. Typhoid breeds typhoid, and typhus breeds typhus, just as
dog breeds dog; and who will believe that a cheat and a liar can be the
father of honest men?'
'In that case, knowing what kind of man the grandson is, I will never
believe that the grandfather was a rogue,' said Hammond, heartily.
Maulevrier put out his hand without a word, and it was warmly grasped by
his friend.
'As for her ladyship, I respect and honour her as a woman who has led a
life of self-sacrifice, and has worn her pride as an armour,' continued
Hammond.
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