"It's against the spirit of the deed."
"I've nothing to do with its spirit. The covenant should say what it means, and it merely states that a settler shall not sell to any person who's not a member of the colony. I'm not going to sell."
"You're going to do a dangerous thing," Kenwyne warned him.
"Then the remedy is for you to let me have a thousand dollars," Gerald said quickly.
"It is impossible; but I will try to raise five hundred. I suppose the Colonel does not know you have come to me?"
"I rely upon your not letting him know." Gerald smiled in that ingratiating way that won him many friends. "I'm deeply grateful, and you're a good sort, Ralph, though in some ways you differ from the rest of us. I don't know where you got your tradesman's spirit."
"It won't be so singular before long," Kenwyne answered with dry amusement. "Even now, Broadwood and one or two others——"
"Broadwood doesn't count. He married a girl of the soil."
"He loves her, and she makes him a good wife."
"Yes, but it was a mistake. You know our traditions."