'What the devil is all this to me—or to you, for the matter of that?' snarled Sir Paget, puffing out his chest. 'I am at liberty to reject this bequest on my own part.'
'But not on mine,' replied Eveline, quietly yet firmly.
'The deuce—you will accept it?'
'Why should not I—if I do injustice to none?'
'And degrade yourself in the eyes of the world!'
'How, Sir Paget?'
'What was this man to you? every man will naturally inquire.'
'None can know that he was ever even a friend to me,' said Eveline, with difficulty restraining her tears.
'It must be rejected, I say!'
'But the estate is not left to you, Sir Paget.'