‘My father had no right to exact such a pledge.’

’But she made it of her own accord.  She was the first to speak about Mr Crawley’s supposed guilt.  Your father never mentioned it.’

’He must have led to it; and I think that he had no right to do so.  He had no right to go to her at all.’

‘Now don’t be foolish, Henry.’

‘I don’t see that I am foolish.’

’Yes, you are.  A man is foolish if he won’t take what he wants without asking exactly how he is to come by it.  That your father should be anxious is the most natural thing in the world.  You know how high he has always held his own head, and how much he thinks about the characters and the position of clergymen.  It is not surprising that he should dislike the idea of such a marriage.’

‘Grace Crawley would disgrace no family,’ said the lover.

’That’s all very well for you to say, and I’ll take your word that it is so;—­that is as far as the young lady goes herself.  And there’s your father almost as much in love with her as you are.  I don’t know what you would have?’

‘I would be left alone.’

’But what harm has been done you?  From what you yourself have told me, I know that Miss Crawley has said the same thing to you that she has said to your father.  You can’t but admire her for the feeling.’

‘I admire her for everything.’

‘Very well.  We don’t say anything against that.’

‘And I don’t mean to give her up.’

’Very well again.  Let us hope that Mr Crawley will be acquitted, and then all will be right.  Your father never goes back on his promise.  He is always better than his word.  You’ll find that if Mr Crawley is acquitted, or if he escapes in any way, your father will only be happy for an excuse to make much of the young lady.  You should not be hard on him, Henry.  Don’t you see that it is his one great desire to keep you near him.  The sight of those odious bills nearly broke his heart.’

‘Then why did he threaten me?’

‘Henry, you are obstinate.’

‘I am not obstinate, mother.’

’Yes, you are.  You remember nothing, and you forget nothing.  You expect everything to be made smooth for you, and will do nothing towards making things smooth for anybody else.  You ought to promise to give up the sale.  If the worst came to the worst, your father would not let you suffer in pocket for yielding to him so much.’

’If the worst comes to the worst, I wish to take nothing from my father.’

‘You won’t put off the sale, then?’

The son paused a moment before he answered his mother, thinking over all the circumstances of his position.  ’I cannot do so as long as I am subject to my father’s threat,’ he said at last.  ’What took place between my father and Miss Crawley can go for nothing with me.  He has told me that his allowance to me is to be withdrawn.  Let him tell me that he has reconsidered the matter.’