Yes, he had done all this and suffered all this, being one of those who believe that
Loyalty is still the same,
Whether it win or lose the game:
True as the dial to the sun,
Although it be not shone upon.
And he was not going to flinch now. He put no more questions to Mr. Bonamy, but, when breakfast was finished, he got up and went out. It needed not the covert glance which he shot at Kate as he disappeared, to assure her that he was going about her unspoken errand.
Five minutes saw him face to face with the rector on the latter’s hearth-rug. Or, rather, to be accurate, five minutes saw him staring irate and astonished at his host while Lindo, with one foot on the fender and his eyes on the fire, seemed very willing to avoid his gaze. “You have made up your mind to resign!” Jack exclaimed, in accents almost awe-stricken. “You are joking!”
But the rector, still looking down, shook his head. “No, Jack, I am not,” he said slowly. “I am in earnest.”
“Then may I ask when you came to this extraordinary resolution?” the barrister retorted. “And why?”
“Last night; and because—well, because I thought it right,” was the answer.
“You thought it right?”
Jack’s tone was a fine mixture of wonder, contempt, and offence. It made Lindo wince, but it did not shake his resolution. “Yes,” he said firmly. “That is so.”
“And that is all you are going to tell me, is it? You put yourself in my hands a few days ago. You took my advice and acted upon it, and now, without a word of explanation, you throw me over! Good heavens! I have no patience with you!” Jack added, beginning to walk up and down the room. “Is not the position the same to-day as yesterday? Tell me that.”