"I have no son! The rascal who has brought me to this, wi' his drinking and gambling, is no son of mine. I disown him now and for ever—and may my curse—"
Mr. Fitzmorris put his hand before the old man's mouth, and, in a solemn voice that made him fall back a few paces, said,
"Who are you that dare curse a fellow creature, especially a son, though he has rebelled against you? It is committing an outrage against your own soul—against the excellent mother that bore him—against the most High God, who, through his blessed Son, has told us, that only as we forgive those that injure us can we ourselves hope to be forgiven."
"Oh, Mary, my wife. My dead angel! it is only for your sake I revoke my curse. He be your child, but oh, he has wounded me in the tenderest part."
Again the old man sank down upon the bench, and, for a few minutes, Gerard thought it best to leave him to his own thoughts. When he seemed more calm, he urged him more earnestly to accompany him back to Hadstone.
"To go back to that she-cat? No, a' won't, I tell you. Why, gaol is a paradise compared to living wi' her. You must not urge me, sir. If I don't curse the scamp that has brought me to this—I fear I should kill him if we met!"
"But you would not refuse to live with Dorothy?"
"Ah, Dolly—she was a good lass. I have naught to do wi' her now. It would ha' been well for me if a' had never set eyes on her."
"But Dorothy loves you so sincerely."
"What, after I have used her so ill? Howsomever, it was a great service I rendered her, when I hindered her from marrying that scoundrel."