"It is with great pain," said he, at length, in a tone of despondency, not unmingled with displeasure, "that I am obliged to descant upon the infirmities of a parent, and to censure her conduct as severely as I may do now. I feel the impropriety of such a step, and I would willingly avoid it, could I do so in justice to my own feelings--and especially at a moment like the present--when every hope of my life is fixed upon uniting myself to you, dear Eleanor, by ties as near as my own to that parent. But the interview which I have just had with Lady Rookwood--bitter and heart-breaking as it has been--compels me to reprobate her conduct in the strongest terms, as harsh, unjust, and dishonorable; and if I could wholly throw off the son, as she avows she has thrown off the mother, I should unhesitatingly pronounce it as little short of----" "Dear Ranulph," said Eleanor, palpitating with apprehension, "I never saw you so much moved." "Nor with so much reason," rejoined Ranulph. "For myself, I could endure anything--but for _you_----" "And does your dispute relate to _me_?" asked Eleanor. "Is it for _my_ sake you have braved your mother's displeasure? Is it because Lady Rookwood is unwilling to resign the control of this house and these lands to _me_, that you have parted in anger with her? Was this the cause of your quarrel?" "It was the origin of it," replied Ranulph. "Mother," said Eleanor, firmly, to Mrs. Mowbray, "go with me to Lady Rookwood's chamber." "Wherefore?" demanded Mrs. Mowbray. "Question me not, dear mother, or let me go alone." "Daughter, I guess your meaning," said Mrs. Mowbray, sternly. "You would relinquish your claims in favor of Lady Rookwood. Is it not so?" "Since you oblige me to answer you, mother," said Eleanor, crimsoning, "I must admit that you have guessed my meaning. To Lady Rookwood, as to yourself, I would be a daughter as far as is consistent with my duty," added she, blushing still more deeply, "but my first consideration shall be my husband. And if Lady Rookwood can be content----But pray question me not further--accompany me to her chamber." "Eleanor," interposed Ranulph, "dearest Eleanor, the sacrifice you would make is unnecessary--uncalled for. You do not know my mother. She would not, I grieve to say, appreciate the generosity of your motives. She would not give you credit for your feelings. She would only resent your visit as an intrusion." "My daughter comprehends you, sir," said Mrs. Mowbray, haughtily. "I will take care that, in her own house, Miss Mowbray shall remain free from insult." "Mother, dear mother," said Eleanor, "do not wilfully misunderstand him."