"I shall be the better able," continued his lordship, "to provide suitably for Davie; he is what a son ought to be! But hear me, Forgue: you must be aware that, if I left you all I had, it would be beggary for one handicapped with a t.i.tle. You may think my anger unreasonable, but it comes solely of anxiety on your account. Nothing but a suitable marriage--the most suitable of all is within your arm"s length--can save you from the life of a moneyless peer--the most pitiable object on the face of the earth. Were it possible to ignore your rank, you have no profession, no trade even, in these trade-loving times, to fall back upon. Except you marry as I please, you will have nothing from me but the contempt of a t.i.tle without a farthing to keep it decent. You threaten to leave the house--can you pay for a railway-ticket?"
Forgue was silent for a moment.
"My lord," he said, "I have given my word to the girl: would you have me disgrace your name by breaking it?"
"Tut! tut! there are words and words! What obligation can there be in the rash promises of an unworthy love! Still less are they binding where the man is not his own master! You are under a bond to your family, under a bond to society, under a bond to your country. Marry this girl, and you will be an outcast; marry as I would have you, and no one will think the worse of you for a foolish vow in your boyhood.
Bah! the merest rumour of it will never rise into the serene air of your position."
"And let the girl go and break her heart!" said Forgue, with look black as death.
"You need fear no such catastrophe! You are no such marvel among men that a kitchen-wench will break her heart for you. She will be sorry for herself, no doubt; but it will be nothing more than she expected, and will only confirm her opinion of you: she knows well enough the risk she runs!"
While he spoke, Donal, waiting his turn, stood as on hot iron. Such sayings were in his ears the foul talk of h.e.l.l. The moment the earl ceased, he turned to Forgue, and said:--
"My lord, you have removed my harder thoughts of you! You have indeed broken your word, but in a way infinitely n.o.bler than I believed you capable of!"
Lord Morven stared dumbfounded.
"Your comments are out of place, Mr. Grant!" said Forgue, with something like dignity. "The matter is between my father and myself. If you wanted to beg my pardon, you should have waited a fitting opportunity!"
Donal held his peace. He had felt bound to show sympathy with his enemy where he was right.
The earl was perplexed: his one poor ally had gone over to the enemy!
He took a gla.s.s from the table beside him, and drank: then, after a moment"s silence, apparently of exhaustion and suffering, said,
"Mr. Grant, I desire a word with you.--Leave the room, Forgue."
"My lord," returned Forgue, "you order me from the room to confer with one whose presence with you is an insult to me!"
"He seems to me," answered his father bitterly, "to be after your own mind in the affair!--How indeed should it be otherwise! But so far I have found Mr. Grant a man of honour, and I desire to have some private conversation with him. I therefore request you will leave us alone together."
This was said so politely, yet with such latent command, that the youth dared not refuse compliance.
The moment he closed the door behind him,
"I am glad he yielded," said the earl, "for I should have had to ask you to put him out, and I hate rows. Would you have done it?"
"I would have tried."
"Thank you. Yet a moment ago you took his part against me!"
"On the girl"s part--and for his honesty too, my lord!"
"Come now, Mr. Grant! I understand your prejudices, I cannot expect you to look on the affair as I do. I am glad to have a man of such sound general principles to form the character of my younger son; but it is plain as a mountain that what would be the duty of a young man in your rank of life toward a young woman in the same rank, would be simple ruin to one in lord Forgue"s position. A capable man like you can make a living a hundred different ways; to one born with the burden of a t.i.tle, and without the means of supporting it, marriage with such a girl means poverty, gambling, hunger, squabbling, dirt--suicide!"
"My lord," answered Donal, "the moment a man speaks of love to a woman, be she as lowly and ignorant as mother Eve, that moment rank and privilege vanish, and distinction is annihilated."
The earl gave a small sharp smile.
"You would make a good pleader, Mr. Grant! But if you had seen the consequences of such marriage half as often as I, you would modify your ideas. Mark what I say: this marriage shall not take place--by G.o.d!
What! should I for a moment talk of it with coolness were there the smallest actual danger of its occurrence--did I not know that it never could, never shall take place! The boy is a fool, and he shall know it!
I have him in my power--neck and heels in my power! He does not know it, and never could guess how; but it is true: one word from me, and the rascal is paralysed! Oblige me by telling him what I have just said. The absurd marriage shall not take place, I repeat. Invalid as I am, I am not yet reduced to the condition of an obedient father."
He took up a small bottle, poured a little from it, added water, and drank--then resumed.
"Now for the girl: who knows about it?"
"So far as I am aware, no one but her grandfather. He had come to the castle to inquire after her, and was with me when we came upon them in the fruit garden."
"Then let no further notice be taken of it. Tell no one--not even Mrs.
Brookes. Let the young fools do as they please."
"I cannot consent to that, my lord."
"Why, what the devil have you to do with it?"
"I am the friend of her people."
"Pooh! pooh! don"t talk rubbish. What is it to them! I"ll see to them.
It will all come right. The affair will settle itself. By Jove, I"m sorry you interfered! The thing would have been much better left alone."
"My lord," said Donal, "I can listen to nothing in this strain."
"All I ask is--promise not to interfere."
"I will not."
"Thank you."
"My lord, you mistake. I will not promise. Nay, I will interfere. What to do, I do not now know; but I will save the girl if I can."
"And ruin an ancient family! You think nothing of that!"
"Its honour, my lord, will be best preserved in that of the girl."
"d.a.m.n you? will you preach to me?"
Notwithstanding his fierce words, Donal could not help seeing or imagining an almost suppliant look in his eye.
"You must do as I tell you in my house," he went on, "or you will soon see the outside of it. Come: marry the girl yourself--she is deuced pretty--and I will give you five hundred pounds for your wedding journey.--Poor Davie!"
"Your lordship insults me."
"Then, d.a.m.n you! be off to your lessons, and take your insolent face out of my sight."
"If I remain in your house, my lord, it is for Davie"s sake."
"Go away," said the earl; and Donal went.