He drew one of his hands from her relaxed hold.
"You ought to be in bed, Emmeline."
"I cannot sleep."
"Go, and talk to me another time."
"No, it must be now. You have helped me when I struggled to rise into a clearer world, and I think, humble as I am, I can help you now. I have had a thought this night that if you do not pray for him and bless him…it will end miserably. My friend, have you done so?"
He was stung and offended, and could hardly help showing it in spite of his mask.
"Have you done so, Austin?"
"This is assuredly a new way of committing fathers to the follies of their sons, Emmeline!"
"No, not that. But will you pray for your boy, and bless him, before the day comes?"
He restrained himself to pronounce his words calmly:—"And I must do this, or it will end in misery? How else can it end? Can I save him from the seed he has sown? Consider, Emmeline, what you say. He has repeated his cousin's sin. You see the end of that."