'No, indeed,' said Leonard, turning to walk with her in the paths; 'I am leaving the place where it is most impossible to live in.'
'This has been a place of great, over-great trial, I know,' said Ethel, 'but I do not ask you to stay in it.'
'My word is my word,' said Leonard, snapping little boughs off the laurels as he walked.
'A hasty word ought not to be kept.'
His face looked rigid, and he answered not.
'Leonard,' she said, 'I have been very unhappy about you, for I see you doing wilfully wrong, and entering a place of temptation in a dangerous spirit.'
'I have given my word,' repeated Leonard.
'O, Leonard, it is pride that is speaking, not the love of truth and constancy.'
'I never defend myself,' said Leonard.
Ethel felt deeply the obduracy and pride of these answers; her eyes filled with tears, and her hopes failed.