"If I know Lady Carruthers rightly," said the lawyer, "she will never get over the blow."
"Tell her that I am here, and why, but tell her also that I refuse to give an explanation to any human being. Tell her the honor of the Carruthers seals my lips; try to comfort her if she seems distressed; do all she wishes you."
"How am I to comfort a mother whose eldest and only son has thrown all prudence to the wind; who has disgraced himself so far as to stand in a felon's dock; who has wantonly laid his life bare and waste—for what?"
A strange smile came over the young face.
"Ah! for what! I know; no one else does. There is a reward, and it satisfies me."
"If ever a Carruthers went mad," said Mr. Forster, angrily, "I should say you were mad now!"
Basil paid no heed to the remark.
"The only thing I can do," he said, "I will do. I will go to Vienna as soon as I leave here. I will not remain in London one-half hour."
"I fear your compliance will be too late then," he said. "I must leave you, if I go to Ulverston this evening. I have several matters that I must attend to. Will any persuasion of mine induce you to alter your mind?"
"No; though I thank you for your interest."