CHAPTER XLIX.
FILIAL RESPONSE.
One thing then was clear to Donal, that for the present he had
nothing to do with the affair. Supposing the earl's assertion true,
there was at present no question as to the succession; before such
question could arise, Forgue might be dead; before that, his father
might himself have disclosed the secret; while, the longer Donal
thought about it, the greater was his doubt whether he had spoken
the truth. The man who could so make such a statement to his son
concerning his mother, must indeed have been capable of the
wickedness assumed! but also the man who could make such a statement
was surely vile enough to lie! The thing remained uncertain, and he
was assuredly not called upon to act!
But how would Forgue carry himself? His behaviour now would decide
or at least determine his character. If he were indeed as honourable
as he wished to be thought, he would tell Eppy what had occurred,
and set himself at once to find some way of earning his and her
bread, or at least to become capable of earning it. He did not seem
to cherish any doubt of the truth of what had fallen in rage from
his father's lips, for, to judge by his appearance, to the few and
brief glances Donal had of him during the next week or so, the iron
had sunk into his soul: he looked more wretched than Donal could
have believed it possible for man to be--abject quite.
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