'Murder? To be of the slightest service it would have to be on a wholesale scale.'
'The course I would advise would be a new environment.'
'Meaning?'
'Let the past be past. Treat it as a closed book not to be reopened. Cut it adrift. And let your lordship seek fresh acquaintances, and fresh associations.'
'Without, I presume, making any reference to the contents of that Bluebeard's Chamber, and hoping to goodness that no one else will either.'
'There are, I am thankful to know, a large number of excellent people--excellent in every sense--who, whatever your past may have been, perceiving that it is your present intention to become a worthy member of society----'
'Who says it is?'
'I am not so dull as not to perceive that such is your intention; and I do so with the most heart-felt satisfaction.'
'You flatter me.'
'I intend to do no such thing. I say that there are many excellent people who, recognising your intention, will be content, and proud, to take you for what you are in the present, and intend in the future to be.'