Nay, I
will say as a woman of common honesty; since there is no nice point of
honour in question, only the plain laws of mine and thine, which I
believe are the same among all nations and creeds. I come to you, Lady
Maulevrier, to ask you to restore to me the wealth which your husband
stole from my father.'
'You come to my house, to me, an old woman, helpless, defenceless, in
the absence of my grandson, the present Earl, to insult me, and insult
the dead,' said Lady Maulevrier, white as statuary marble, and as cold
and calm. 'You come to rake up old lies, and to fling them in the face
of a solitary woman, old enough to be your mother. Do you think that is
a noble thing to do? Even in your barbarous Eastern code of morals and
manners is _that_ the act of a gentleman?'
'We are no barbarians in the East, Lady Maulevrier. I come from the
cradle of civilisation, the original fount of learning. We were
scholars and gentleman, priests and soldiers, two thousand years before
your British ancestors ran wild in their woods, and sacrificed to their
unknown gods or rocky altars reeking with human blood! I know the errand
upon which I have come is not a pleasant one, either for you or for me;
but I come to you strong in the right of a son to claim the heritage
which was stolen from him by an infamous mother and her more infamous
paramour----'
'I will not hear another word!' cried Lady Maulevrier, starting to her
feet, livid with passion.
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