"I may as well tell you the whole truth," said Fred. And he told it. He told it honestly,--almost honestly. It is very hard for a man to tell a story truly against himself, but he intended to tell the whole truth. "Now what must I do? Would you have me marry her?" Jack Neville paused for a long time. "At any rate you can say yes, or no." "It is very hard to say yes, or no." "I can marry no one else. I can see my way so far. You had better tell Sophie Mellerby everything, and then a son of yours shall be the future Earl." "We are both of us young as yet, Fred, and need not think of that. If you do mean to marry Miss O'Hara you should lose not a day;--not a day." "But what if I don't. You are always very ready with advice, but you have given me none as yet." "How can I advise you? I should have heard the very words in which you made your promise before I could dare to say whether it should be kept or broken. As a rule a man should keep his word." "Let the consequences be what they may?" "A man should keep his word certainly. And I know no promise so solemn as that made to a woman when followed by conduct such as yours has been." "And what will people say then as to my conduct to the family? How will they look on me when I bring home the daughter of that scoundrel?" "You should have thought of that before." "But I was not told. Do you not see that I was deceived there. Mrs. O'Hara clearly said that the man was dead. And she told me nothing of the galleys." "How could she tell you that?" "But if she has deceived me, how can I be expected to keep my promise? I love the girl dearly. If I could change places with you, I would do so this very minute, and take her away with me, and she should certainly be my wife. If it were only myself, I would give up all to her. I would, by heaven. But I cannot sacrifice the family. As to solemn promises, did I not swear to my uncle that I would not disgrace the family by such a marriage? Almost the last word that I spoke to him was that. Am I to be untrue to him? There are times in which it seems impossible that a man should do right." "There are times in which a man may be too blind to see the right," said Jack,--sparing his brother in that he did not remind him that those dilemmas always come from original wrong-doing. "I think I am resolved not to marry her," said Fred. "If I were in your place I think I should marry her," said Jack;--"but I will not speak with certainty even of myself."