“If he had cut me out fairly, I should not have a word to say. Every man for himself in this pleasant world. But, mark my words, this parson and Florence have forced Eva into this unholy business, and I will have his life in payment. If you don’t believe me, ask Jeremy. He saw something of the game before he left.”
“Look here, Kershaw, the man’s a parson. He will take shelter behind his cloth; he won’t fight. What shall you do then?”
“I shall shoot him,” was the cool reply.
“Ernest, you are mad; it won’t do. You shall not go, and that is all about it. You shall not ruin yourself over this woman, who is not fit to black an honest man’s shoes.”
“Shall not! shall not! Alston, you use strong language. Who will prevent me?”
“I will prevent you,” he answered, sternly. “I am your superior officer, and the corps you belong to is not disbanded. If you try to leave this place you shall be arrested as a deserter. Now don’t be a fool, lad; you have killed one man, and got out of the mess. If you kill another you will not get out of it. Besides, what will the satisfaction be? If you want revenge, be patient. It will come. I have seen something of life; at least, I am old enough to be your father, and I know that you think me a cynic because I laugh at your ‘high-falutin’ about women. How justly I warned you, you see now. But, cynic or not, I believe in the God above us, and I believe, too, that there is a rough justice in this world. It is in the world principally that people expiate the sins of the world; and if this marriage is such a wicked thing as you think, it will bring its own trouble with it, without any help from you. Time will avenge you. Everything comes to him who can wait.”
Ernest’s eyes glittered coldly as he answered: “I cannot wait. I am a ruined man already; all my life is laid waste. I wish to die, but I wish to kill him before I die.”
“So sure as my name is Alston you shall not go!”
“So sure as my name is Kershaw I will go!”
For a moment the two men faced one another; it would have been hard to say which looked the most determined. Then Mr. Alston turned and left the room and the house. On the verandah he paused and considered for a moment.