And why?
Because he was poor, and dared to lift his eyes to a rich young lady."
"But he was not flogged by his own father?" asked Dan, deeply interested
in this romance, and rubbing his back, as the pain increased with
sympathy.
"Not quite so bad as that," replied the other; "such a thing would be
impossible, even in England. No; his father took his part, as any father
in the world would do; even if the great man, the young lady's father,
should happen to be his own landlord."
A very black suspicion crossed the mind of Dan, for Carne possessed the
art of suggesting vile suspicions: might Admiral Darling have discovered
something, and requested Dan's father to correct him? It was certain
that the Admiral, so kind of heart, would never have desired such
severity; but he might have told Captain Tugwell, with whom he had a
talk almost every time they met, that his eldest son wanted a little
discipline; and the Club might have served as a pretext for this, when
the true crime must not be declared, by reason of its enormity. Dan
closed his teeth, and English air grew bitter in his mouth, as this
belief ran through him.
"Good-night, my young friend; I am beginning to recover," Carne
continued, briskly, for he knew that a nail snaps in good oak, when the
hammer falls too heavily. "What is a little bit of outrage, after all?
When I have been in England a few years more, I shall laugh at myself
for having loved fair play and self-respect, in this innocent young
freshness.
Pages:
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288