“Ha!—I forgive him: his daughter seems to be on the other side—”
“Richard, you would not touch my hand? Ah, my friend, I warn you—! Now—you have agitated—I have been ill—my father is of them. And who is one of the closest associates of my father—?”
“Who?”
“The person known as Admiral Donald, whom I know very well to be Monsignor O'Hara. I think you might have been more—recondite—in your choice of an admiral, Richard!”
“Ah?—you surprise me”.
“But why? You once sent that man to me as a notebearer: certainly, a singular selection. You must have known that he had been a convict—”
“I thought him innocent then!”
“But you know now—?”
“Yes”.
“And is it not extraordinary that your ensign bears my initials, while this man is one of your commanders?”