“Sir!”
“You’re a fool, I say!”
The two men glared at each other furiously for a moment. Then Adrian, growing very pale, moved a step or two back, and said, in a quiet, though concentrated voice:
“Then I am to understand that you refuse your consent to my marrying?”
“I do, most emphatically refuse to allow you to marry any such doubtful person as Lady Ruxley’s companion appears to be. Shame upon you stooping so low!”
“Then, my Lord Dunforth, listen to me,” Adrian said, flushing angrily, and drawing his proud form to its fullest height. “I love this gentle girl with my whole heart; I have told her so, and I have asked her to be my wife. I am of age, and, sir, I shall marry her!”
Lord Dunforth suddenly wheeled about, and came forward with rapid strides.
The two proud men stood looking steadfastly into each other’s eyes for a moment, and each read there a determination never to yield.
“Then you are no longer a child of mine!” whispered the irate lord, hoarsely, his whole frame shaking from anger, disappointment, and mortification.
“Grandfather,” returned Adrian, sadly, “you know I love you, and would gladly do anything in reason to please you; but the happiness of two lives is at stake, and in this matter I must choose for myself.”