Sir Harry Hotspur of HumblethwaiteTrollope, Anthony
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Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite
Trollope, Anthony
Cumberland (England) -- Fiction; Domestic fiction; Fathers and daughters -- Fiction; Inheritance and succession -- Fiction
"Has it been your practice, sir, when gambling, to pay back money
that you have won? You are a scoundrel,--a heartless scoundrel,--to
try and make your way into my house when I had made such liberal
offers to buy your absence." To this Cousin George made no sort of
answer. The game was up. And had he not already told himself that
it was a game that he should never have attempted to play? "We will
leave this house if you please, both of us, at eleven. We will go to
town together. The carriage will be ready at eleven. You had better
see to the packing of your things, with the servant."
"Shall I not say a word of adieu to Lady Elizabeth?"
"No, sir! You shall never speak to a female in my house again."
The two were driven over to Penrith together, and went up to London
in the same carriage, Sir Harry paying for all expenses without a
word. Sir Harry before he left his house saw his wife for a moment,
but he did not see his daughter. "Tell her," said he, "that it must
be,--must be all over." The decision was told to Emily, but she
simply refused to accept it. "It shall not be so," said she, flashing
out. Lady Elizabeth endeavoured to show her that her father had done
all he could to further her views--had been ready to sacrifice to her
all his own wishes and convictions.
"Why is he so changed? He has heard of some new debt. Of course there
are debts. We did not suppose that it could be done all at once, and
so easily." She refused to be comforted, and refused to believe.
She sat alone weeping in her own room, and swore, when her mother
came to her, that no consideration, no tidings as to George's past
misconduct, should induce her to break her faith to the man to whom
her word had been given;--"my word, and Papa's, and yours," said
Emily, pleading her cause with majesty through her tears.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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