But he replied, in mild and tender tone,
“It is not sin, and therefore shame has none.”
The different ages of the pair he knew,
And quite as well their different fortunes too:
A meek, just man; but difference in his sight
That made the match unequal made it right.
“His son, his friend united, and become 420
Of his own hearth—the comforts of his home—
Was it so wrong? Perhaps it was her pride
That felt the distance, and the youth denied?”