The sudden assault
staggered him, and he fell on the floor with Forgue above him, who
sought to wrest the key from him. But Donal was much the stronger;
he threw his assailant off him; and for a moment was tempted to give
him a good thrashing. From this the thought of Eppy helped to
restrain him, and he contented himself with holding him down till he
yielded. When at last he lay quiet,
"Will you promise to walk out if I let you up?" said Donal. "If you
will not, I will drag you into the street by the legs."
"I will," said Forgue; and getting up, he walked out and away
without a word.
Donal locked the door, forgetting all about the papers, and went
back to Andrew's. There was Eppy, safe for the moment! She was busy
in the outer room, and kept her back to him. With a word or two to
the grandmother, he left them, and went home, revolving all the way
what he ought to do. Should he tell the earl, or should he not? Had
he been a man of rectitude, he would not have hesitated a moment;
but knowing he did not care what became of Eppy, so long as his son
did not marry her, he felt under no obligation to carry him the evil
report. The father might have a right to know, but had he a right to
know from him?
A noble nature finds it almost impossible to deal with questions on
other than the highest grounds: where those grounds are
unrecognized, the relations of responsibility may be difficult
indeed to determine.
Pages:
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398