'
'I cannot tell, Duke.'
'Neither can I. But you are a woman and might know better than I
do. It is so hard that a man should be left with the charge of
which from its very nature he cannot understand the duties.' Then
he paused, but she could find no words which would suit the
moment. It was almost incredible to her that after what had passed
he should speak to her at all as to the condition of his daughter.
'I cannot, you know,' he said very seriously, 'encourage a hope
that she should be allowed to marry that man.'
'I do not know.'
'You yourself, Mrs Finn, felt that when she told about it at
Matching.'
'I felt that you would disapprove of it.'
'Disapprove of it! How could it be otherwise? Of course you felt
that. There are ranks in life in which the first comer that suits
a maiden's eye may be accepted as a flirting lover. I will not say
but that they who are born to such a life may be the happier. They
are, I am sure, free from troubles to which they are incident whom
fate has called to a different sphere. But duty is duty;--and
whatever pang it may cost, duty should be performed.
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