And I strove for you even
against my own heart,--against my own brother. I did; I did. But how
am I to bear it now? What shall I do now? She is a woman I loathe."
"Because you do not know her."
"Not know her! And are your eyes so clear at seeing that you must
know her better than others? She was the Duke's mistress."
"That is untrue, Lady Laura."
"But what difference does it make to me? I shall be sure that you
will have bread to eat, and horses to ride, and a seat in Parliament
without being forced to earn it by your labour. We shall meet no
more, of course."
"I do not think that you can mean that."
"I will never receive that woman, nor will I cross the sill of her
door. Why should I?"
"Should she become my wife,--that I would have thought might have
been the reason why."
"Surely, Phineas, no man ever understood a woman so ill as you do."
"Because I would fain hope that I need not quarrel with my oldest
friend?"
"Yes, sir; because you think you can do this without quarrelling. How
should I speak to her of you; how listen to what she would tell me?
Phineas, you have killed me at last.
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