If he knew, if in truth he believed that
such would be the result of firmness on his part,--then he would be
infirm, then must he yield. Sooner than that, he must welcome this
Tregear to his house. But why should he think that she would die?
This woman had now asked him whether he would be willing to break
his girl's heart. It was a frightful question; but he could see
that it had come naturally in the sequence of the conversation
which he had forced upon her. Did girls break their hearts in
such emergencies? Was it not all romance? 'Men have died and
worms have eaten them,--but not for love.' He remembered it all
and carried on the argument in his mind, though the pause was but
for a minute. There might be suffering no doubt. The higher the
duties the keener the pangs! But would it become him to be
deterred from doing right because she for a time might find that
she had made the world bitter for herself? And were there not
feminine wiles,--tricks by which women learn how to have their way
in opposition to the judgement of their lords and masters? He did
not think that his Mary was wilfully guilty of any scheme.
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