"To tell you the truth," he
began again, "at one period of my history I gave and gave till I was
tired of giving! Ingratitude was the sole return. At one period I
had large possessions--larger than I like to think of now: if I had
the tenth part of what I have given away, I should not be uneasy
concerning Davie."
"There is no fear of Davie, my lord, so long as he is brought up
with the idea that he must work for his bread."
His lordship made no answer, and his look reminded Donal of that he
wore when he came to his chamber. A moment, and he rose and began to
pace the room. An indescribable suggestion of an invisible yet
luminous cloud hovered about his forehead and eyes--which latter, if
not fixed on very vacancy, seemed to have got somewhere near it. At
the fourth or fifth turn he opened the door by which he had entered,
continuing a remark he had begun to Donal--of which, although he
heard every word and seemed on the point of understanding something,
he had not caught the sense when his lordship disappeared, still
talking. Donal thought it therefore his part to follow him, and
found himself in his lordship's bedroom. But out of this his
lordship had already gone, through an opposite door, and Donal still
following entered an old picture-gallery, of which he had heard
Davie speak, but which the earl kept private for his exercise
indoors.
Pages:
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254