"
"I have got nothing that I wanted," said the Earl in his despair.
"Lord Chiltern and Miss Effingham will be man and wife."
"No;--they will not. He has quarrelled with her. He is so obstinate
that she will not bear with him."
Then it was all true, even though the rumours had reached him through
Laurence Fitzgibbon and Madame Max Goesler. "At any rate, my lord,
that has not been my fault," he said, after a moment's hesitation.
The Earl was walking up and down the room, angry with himself at his
own mistake in having told the story, and not knowing what further to
say to his visitor. He had been in the habit of talking so freely to
Phineas about his son that he could hardly resist the temptation of
doing so still; and yet it was impossible that he could swallow his
anger and continue in the same strain. "My lord," said Phineas, after
a while, "I can assure you that I grieve that you should be grieved.
I have received so much undeserved favour from your family, that I
owe you a debt which I can never pay. I am sorry that you should be
angry with me now; but I hope that a time may come when you will
think less severely of my conduct."
He was about to leave the room when the Earl stopped him. "Will you
give me your word," said the Earl, "that you will think no more of
Miss Effingham?" Phineas stood silent, considering how he might
answer this proposal, resolving that nothing should bring him to such
a pledge as that suggested while there was yet a ledge for hope to
stand on.
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