“Dr. Grey makes a grace of necessity, and a pretence of confiding that which has ceased to be a secret. Is such his boasted candor and honesty?”
“If I believed that you were already acquainted with what 209 I propose to divulge, I would not fritter away my time in appealing to a nobility of feeling which that fact alone would prove the hopelessness of my ever finding in you.”
He felt her face grow hot, and for an instant her eyes drooped before his, stern and almost threatening.
“Well, sir; I wait for your confidential disclosures. Is there a Guy Fawkes, or Titus Oates, plotting against the peace and prosperity of the house of Grey?”
“Verily I am disposed to apprehend that there may be.”
She endeavored to wrench her face from his hand, but he held it firmly, and continued,—
“I wish to say to you that Muriel is very sensitive, and I hope that during Mr. Granville’s visit, you will try to be as considerate and courteous as possible, to both. Salome, Gerard Granville has asked Muriel to be his wife, and she has promised to marry him at the expiration of a year.”
The girl laughed derisively, and exclaimed,—
“Pray, Dr. Grey, be so good as to indulge me with your motive in furnishing this piece of information?”
“Your astuteness forbids the possibility of any doubt with reference to my motives,—which are, explicitly, anxiety for Muriel’s happiness, and for the preservation of your integrity and self-respect.”