"May I inquire the particulars?" asked the captain, with the politest
composure. "Don't spare my feelings; oblige me by speaking out. In the
plainest terms, now, what have you heard?"
She answered him with a woman's desperate disregard of consequences when
she is driven to bay--she answered him instantly,
"I have heard you are a Rogue."
"Have you, indeed?" said the impenetrable Wragge. "A Rogue? Well, I
waive my privilege of setting you right on that point for a fitter
time. For the sake of argument, let us say I am a Rogue. What is Mr.
Huxtable?"
"A respectable man, or I should not have seen him in the house where we
first met."
"Very good. Now observe! You talked of writing to Mr. Huxtable a minute
ago. What do you think a respectable man is likely to do with a young
lady who openly acknowledges that she has run away from her home and her
friends to go on the stage? My dear girl, on your own showing, it's
not a respectable man you want in your present predicament. It's a
Rogue--like me."
Magdalen laughed, bitterly.
"There is some truth in that," she said. "Thank you for recalling me
to myself and my circumstances. I have my end to gain--and who am I, to
pick and choose the way of getting to it? It is my turn to beg pardon
now.
Pages:
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333