"Things have changed, since we talked so lightly last summer of what might be," Thorold said at last. And he said it in a meditative way, as if he were pondering something.
"Yes," I assented.
"The North does not wish for war. The South have brought it upon themselves."
"Yes," I said again, wondering a little what was coming.
"However disagreeable my duty may be, it is my duty; and there is no shirking it."
"No," I said. "Of course."
"And if your friends are on one side and I on the other,—it is not my fault, Miss Randolph."
"No," I said; "not at all."
"Then you do not blame me for taking the part I must take?"
"No," I said. "You must take it."