But he replied to his last remark with a dignity that became him well:
“Then, sir, we will leave the question for her to decide, and abide by her verdict. I desired to render you all due courtesy, but, of course, you are as well aware as I that my seeking your approval was a mere matter of form. Good-morning, sir.”
“Good-morning,” Mr. Dalton returned, with a mocking bow, and saw him depart with a sinister smile and an almost fiendish chuckle.
Earle immediately sought Editha, and communicated the result of the interview to her.
“I shall not ask you to run away with me, my darling,” he said, with a fond smile, “for I must marry my wife in an honorable way. Neither shall I use any arguments to try to persuade you to defy your father and marry me openly. I shall leave it entirely with you. It must be just as your own heart dictates. Editha, you must decide this matter for yourself and me.”
“Oh, Earle, it is hard,” she said; “my heart tells me that I belong to you, while a feeling of pity and affection prompts me to consider, as far as is right, the feelings and wishes of my father. I cannot understand him; he is so changed since mamma and Uncle Richard died, I sometimes fear that his mind is affected.”
Earle thought that his mind was affected decidedly, being possessed with an evil spirit of some kind.
“An impassable barrier seems to have arisen between us,” Editha continued, sadly; “and he has taken such an unaccountable dislike to you that it seems very strange to me. Let me think it all over for one night, Earle. Come to me to-morrow at this time and you shall have my answer.”
Earle complied with her request and left her, feeling sad and depressed himself.
He knew that he ought to return immediately to Wycliffe. He had been gone a long time now, and was trespassing more than he liked upon Mr. Tressalia’s good nature; but he did not feel as if he could even think of such a thing as returning and leaving Editha behind.