Are you still willing to accept it?'
Again I assented.
'You are worthy of your blood, Maud Ruthyn. It will come soon, and it won't
last long. But you must not let people like Monica Knollys frighten you.'
I was lost in wonder.
'If you allow them to possess you with their follies, you had better recede
in time--they may make the ordeal as terrible as hell itself. You have
zeal--have you nerve?' I thought in such a cause I had nerve for anything.
'Well, Maud, in the course of a few months--and it may be sooner--there
must be a change. I have had a letter from London this morning that assures
me of that. I must then leave you for a time; in my absence be faithful to
the duties that will arise. To whom much is committed, of him will much be
required. You shall promise me not to mention this conversation to Monica
Knollys. If you are a talking girl, and cannot trust yourself, say so, and
we will not ask her to come. Also, don't invite her to talk about your
uncle Silas--I have reasons. Do you quite understand my conditions?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Your uncle Silas,' he said, speaking suddenly in loud and fierce tones
that sounded from so old a man almost terrible, 'lies under an intolerable
slander.
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