“Suppose this mutual devotion had grown up with you from infancy to maturity; and that it was consecrated by the most sacred bonds and pledges.”
“Meaning, poetically speaking, ‘bonds of matrimony’ and ‘pledges of affection’—otherwise, practically prosing, wife and children.”
“No, not exactly; but, to continue: Suppose this mutual devotion to have lived on in love, and trust, and joy, and peace until certain untoward circumstances—your own madness, to wit:—disturbed the harmony of your relations; yet still in all the discord this mutual love lived on; lived on, only deepened and strengthened by separation and suffering,—lived on until just at the time you were beginning to dream of reconciliation and reunion with your first love—your only love, your life’s love—a base villain steps in between you, and, favored by fortune and by position, dazzles the mind and steals the heart of your beloved!”
“And is that suppository case your own, Alick?”
“Yes, it is. What would you do if it were yours?”
“I’d let him have her! I’d give ’em my blessing, and let ’em go! But then I’m not you, Alick; if you feel inclined to call the fellow out and giving him a chance to settle your prior claims by blowing out your heated brains, why that’s your affair!”
“And you will have nothing to do with it?”
“I did not say that, Alick; quite the contrary! You have been wronged, and I will see you righted if I can—and righted in your own way too!”
“Then you will take my challenge?”
“With all my heart. To whom am I to take it?”