Cruel! She had told him that he would be cruel, if he opposed her
love. He thought he knew of himself that he could not be cruel,--
even to a fly, even to a political opponent. There could be no
cruelty without dishonesty, and did he not always struggle to be
honest? Cruel to his own daughter!
CHAPTER 12
At Richmond
The pity of it! The pity of it! It was thus that Lady Cantrip
looked at it. From what the girl's father had said to her she was
disposed to believe that the malady had gone deep with her. 'All
things go deep with her,' he had said. And she too from other
sources had heard something of this girl. She was afraid that it
would go deep. It was a thousand pities! Then she asked herself
whether the marriage ought to be regarded as impossible. The Duke
had been very positive,--had declared again and again that it was
quite impossible, had so expressed himself as to make her aware
that he intended her to understand that he would not yield
whatever the sufferings of the girl might be. But Lady Cantrip
knew the world well and was aware that in such matters daughters
are apt to be stronger than their fathers.
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