"Silence, sir!" roared Elthorne, whose aspect now was startling to those who watched him and trembled for the end. "I am fighting, weak as I am, for the honour of my house--for the honour of my two sons, to prove to these ladies that they have been tricked and cheated by a contemptible, false report. This obstinate fool refuses to clear himself, but you, my boy--my eldest son--you are a gentleman. You will not let any weak vanity prevent you from speaking out and proving to Saxa here--your betrothed--that a miserable, lying scandal has been set afoot. That you are not one--you, the student and man of reputation--to degrade yourself by stooping to a pitiful intrigue which would disgrace you and me in the eyes of your betrothed. Come, let us end this painful scene. Speak out, and then take my child Saxa's hand, and she shall humble herself to you and ask your pardon for doubting you, as I know she will." "Yes," said Saxa, as he turned to her, and she fixed her eyes firmly upon Neil, "as I will directly, Neil Elthorne." "There," said the father. "You hear, sir? Now, then, speak out and deny it." "Deny what?" said Neil slowly. "That for a long time past you have been carrying on a contemptible flirtation--bah! the wretched word!--that you have been behaving toward Nurse Elisia as the man does to the woman he means to make his wife. I have told Saxa that it is not true." Neil remained motionless, forgetting his position on his intense dread regarding his father's state. "Come!" said the old man; "this needs no hesitation. Speak out." Still Neil remained silent, with something seeming to murmur in his ear: "Deny it. If you speak the truth you will kill him. He could not bear it. She does not love you--she cares for your brother. You must not own the truth and disgrace yourself forever in Saxa Lydon's eyes." "Neil!" He remained silent still, and the voice seemed to whisper again: "Deny it. The avowal will kill him. You know that in his state it would be his death. You must not--you cannot speak." "Once more I ask you, boy, to clear yourself before your betrothed. Tell her it is a lie." The change was so terrible in the old man's face that Saxa uttered a low cry. "No, no!" she said. "Neil! Look at him. Look!" "Silence, girl," cried the old man hoarsely, and with his face working. "Father, for Heaven's sake," said Neil, bending over him; but the old man waved him back, and he shrank away, ignorant of the fact that Saxa's cry had brought Nurse Elisia to the door, where she stood appalled at the old man's aspect. "Tell Saxa it is a lie." "I cannot, sir," said Neil firmly. "You force from me the truth." "What!" panted Elthorne. "It would be deceiving Saxa Lydon, and lying against Elisia, the woman I love hopelessly, but with all my heart." "You have killed him!" CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. "THE WOMAN IS A WITCH."