“No, it wouldn’t be natural, though I bear no malice, and I hope you don’t,” he said. “Have I shown malice?” asked the beaterman. “Have I taken this outrage in a malicious spirit?” “You have not.” “I’ve taken it lying down, and you know it; and I dare say, at the bottom of your heart, you’ve been more than a bit surprised sometimes to see how I held in.” “You’re a thinking, reasonable being.” “Were you? You’re not surprised at the line I took, because I did pretty much what you would have done if the positions had been reversed, and I had run away with your wife. But I should have thought you had wit to marvel a bit how a man like me took it so tame. If I could knock you into the water for advising me to be kinder to her, didn’t it ever strike you I might have done even a bit more when you stole the woman?” “As to that, I’ve understood up to the present you meant to do a bit more. It was made clear to me you were going for damages along with the divorce.” “I thought of it, and I could have got them, no doubt; but what held my hand off you when this happened, holds it still. I’m not going to claim damages.” Kellock was silent for some moments, arguing with himself whether he ought to thank Ned for this concession, or not. He decided against so doing; but felt it right to explain. “You might think I ought to thank you for that. But I don’t, because, if I did, it would be admitting you had waived what was your right. But I deny you had any right to do such a thing as to try and take my money. Your wife left you of her own free will, and on her own judgment, and came to me, and though the law—” “We needn’t worry about nonsense like that,” interrupted Ned. “I’ve got a bigger thing than that to say. You’re so great upon defying the law, and getting everything your own way, and you know so much better than everyone else, the law included, how life should be run, and how we should all behave, that you’ve rather defeated your own object, Kellock. I dare say some people would think it funny what I’m going to say; but you won’t. In fact, you’ve been hoist with your own bomb, as the saying is, and the reason I didn’t go to quod for you is just your own defiance of law. You saved yourself some ugly punishment at the time; but only to get worse at the finish. So what happened was you disobeyed the law, not me.” “This is all a foreign language to me,” answered Jordan. “Is it? Well, you’ll see the English of it in half a minute. The good of three people hangs to this, and when I tell you that in my opinion all three will be the losers by your marrying Medora, perhaps you’ll begin to see where I’m getting.” “As to that, you’ll do well to mind your own business. I can brook no interference from you between me and Medora.”