"Had not the matter been most pressing in regard both to time and its own importance."
"So the woman told me, and therefore I have consented to see you."
"You know a man of the name of—Slide, Mr. Kennedy?" Mr. Kennedy shook his head. "You know the editor of the People's Banner?" Again he shook his head. "You have, at any rate, written a letter for publication to that newspaper."
"Need I consult you as to what I write?"
"But he,—the editor,—has consulted me."
"I can have nothing to do with that."
"This Mr. Slide, the editor of the People's Banner, has just been with me, having in his hand a printed letter from you, which,—you will excuse me, Mr. Kennedy,—is very libellous."
"I will bear the responsibility of that."
"But you would not wish to publish falsehood about your wife, or even about me."
"Falsehood! sir; how dare you use that word to me? Is it false to say that she has left my house? Is it false to say that she is my wife, and cannot desert me, as she has done, without breaking her vows, and disregarding the laws both of God and man? Am I false when I say that I gave her no cause? Am I false when I offer to take her back, let her faults be what they may have been? Am I false when I say that her father acts illegally in detaining her? False! False in your teeth! Falsehood is villany, and it is not I that am the villain."