"Nothing, my boy. At her marriage, your mother will of course live
at the Haugh with Sir William. This house is mine, and if you
cannot get on at the Haugh, it will be always open to you."
"I will never set my foot inside the Haugh," Rupert said, firmly.
"My lady mother may leave her lands where she will; but if I am to
have them only at the price of being the humble servant of this new
father-in-law, I care not for them. He has an evil face,
grandfather, and I hated him before I knew what he came for."
"My boy," Colonel Holliday said, "we have all many things to go
through in life that we like not. This is your trial, and I trust
that you will come out of it worthily. Your respect and duty are
due to your mother. If you will not feign gladness that you do not
feel, I do not blame you; but when she tells you the news, answer
her with that respect which you owe her. She has a clear right to
choose for herself. She is still a comely dame, and no one will
blame her for taking another husband. To me and to you the thing
may seem hard, even unnatural, but it is not so. I like Sir William
no more than you do. Report says that he has deeply dipped into his
estates over the dice box; and your lady mother's estates, and the
sum that many years of quiet living has enabled her to save, are
doubtless items which he has not overlooked."
Rupert remained for some time silent.
"I will be perfectly respectful to my mother," he said, "but I will
not disguise my feelings.
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