"
"That," replied Miss Lucy, "depends entirely on the manner in which the
nay-says are said. Mine should have not one grain of concession in them,
I promise you."
"But if your father," said Miss Vere, "were to say,--Thus do, or--"
"I would stand to the consequences of his OR, were he the most cruel
father that ever was recorded in romance, to fill up the alternative."
"And what if he threatened you with a catholic aunt, an abbess, and a
cloister?"
"Then," said Miss Ilderton, "I would threaten him with a protestant
son-in-law, and be glad of an opportunity to disobey him for conscience'
sake. And now that Nancy is out of hearing, let me really say, I
think you would be excusable before God and man for resisting this
preposterous match by every means in your power. A proud, dark,
ambitious man; a caballer against the state; infamous for his avarice
and severity; a bad son, a bad brother, unkind and ungenerous to all his
relatives--Isabel, I would die rather than have him."
"Don't let my father hear you give me such advice," said Miss Vere, "or
adieu, my dear Lucy, to Ellieslaw Castle.
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