When the young gentleman, however, came to speak upon the character and probable conduct of his father Mrs. Effingham found matter for more serious thoughts. She was deeply gratified with the perfect candour and openness of Charles's behaviour; but it placed her in a somewhat difficult situation, from which she saw no relief but in his immediately returning to Oxford; and, after he had ceased speaking, she remained for a minute or two in deep thought before she replied. The answer even then was elicited by his saying, "Well, dear Mrs. Effingham, I must now return, as I have been absent twice as long as I ought to have been; but I was resolved to tell you at once all that I thought upon the subject, and leave you to act as you think fit." "No, Charles," she said, "we must act together. I am fully sensible of your candour, and deeply grateful for your confidence, and you shall find me willing to acknowledge it by actions as well as words; for I will suffer no punctilios, no feelings of pride whatsoever, now or at any future period, to stand in the way of your happiness, if it is to consist in your union with Lucy: I think, however, that you are somewhat inclined to do your father injustice. I know that his temper is extraordinary, and his violence, as we have ourselves seen two or three times, quite unreasonable. But, still, I do not think that he would act merely for the perverse pleasure of contradicting your wishes." Charles shook his head with a melancholy smile. "You do not know him, my dear madam," he said. "It is my firm conviction, that if nothing is said to my father about this business, he himself will propose a marriage between me and Lucy, which I know he desires; but that, if he be told that I love her now, he will throw a thousand obstacles in the way of our union, if he do not oppose it altogether."