"Suppose I did tell her that, do you imagine that it would weigh with her, if it was not backed by some very strong, some overwhelming reason?" asked Eversleigh, struggling to speak calmly with the young man. "And what reason can I give? I cannot perform impossibilities. Surely you must admit that?" "I admit nothing," snarled Bennet viciously. The two men looked at each other; Eversleigh's face bore a hopeless and beaten expression, Bennet's was savage and implacable. For a space there was silence between them. On Bennet Eversleigh's last words had made a certain impression, and he was asking himself if, after all, his scheme would not work: he felt not the least pity or compassion; but what if he had indeed set Eversleigh a task beyond his powers to accomplish? As he conversed with Eversleigh, he saw that what in his own home the previous evening had seemed a simple enough thing, was not simple at all. He saw that if Eversleigh, at his bidding, told the lovers that the match must be broken off, it did not at all follow they would consent--unless they were told that in this way, and this only, Eversleigh would be delivered from some great and imminent danger. "Well," he thought, "that is what Eversleigh must do, and for the same reason Kitty must be brought to consent to marry me." "You will speak to your son and Miss Thornton to-night?" Bennet said aloud. "To-night!" "Why not? The sooner the better, surely!" "Harry," said Eversleigh, making a last effort, "just consider the position." "What else am I doing?" Bennet broke out rudely. "Have patience a moment, if not for my sake, then for your own. You wish me to tell Gilbert, whom by the way I shall not see to-night, that he must have his engagement with Miss Thornton cancelled. Gilbert knows perfectly that his marriage with Miss Thornton is the thing next my heart, and he will require from me an explanation. Am I to tell him the truth? And it is the same in Miss Thornton's case. Am I to tell her the truth also?" "Certainly. Why not, pray?" asked Bennet, ruthlessly. "I do not believe Gilbert will consent." "He will, fast enough, to save you; for in saving you is he not saving himself and his career?" "But Miss Thornton," argued Eversleigh, "is not my child. She is of age. She is her own mistress. I have no power over her. How can I compel her to marry you?" Bennet stood in sullen silence. "She would marry me to save you from a convict's cell," he said at last. "But as I understand you to mean that you will not speak to her on this matter, I tell you what I'll do. I shall go to her myself, and tell her all I know. If she consents to marry me, then I shall spare you; if she refuses--you can guess for yourself what will take place. And this is my last word," added Bennet, and stalked out of the room. CHAPTER XXII