"Still, a man is to be pitied if he does not appreciate—"
"Mr. Haddington!"
"I beg your pardon. I ought not to have said that. But it is hard—there, I am offending you again!"
"Yes, you must not talk like that. It's wrong; it would be wrong even if you meant it."
"Do you think I don't mean it?"
"That would be very discreditable—but not so bad."
"You know I mean it," he said, in a low voice. "God knows I would have said nothing if—"
"If what?"
"I shall offend you more than ever. But how can I stand by and see that?" and Haddington pointed with fine scorn to the neglected book.
Kate was not agitated. She seldom was. In a tone of grave rebuke, she said: