"Dora and I," he said, "will never live together again--perhaps
never meet. She has gone home to her father; I am going to
wander over the wide earth. Will you induce my father to receive
my children at Earlescourt? And will you see Mr. Burt, and
arrange that half of my small income is settled upon Dora?"
But to all his wife's entreaties Lord Earle turned a deaf ear.
He declared that never during his life time should the children
of Dora Thorne enter Earlescourt. His resolution was fixed and
unalterable. How, he asked, was he to trust the man who had once
deceived him? For aught he knew, the separation between Ronald
and his wife might be a deeply laid scheme, and, the children
once with him, there would be a grand reconciliation between the
parents.
"I am not surprised," he said, "that the unhappy boy is weary of
his pretty toy. It could not be otherwise; he must bear the
consequences of his own folly. He had time for thought, he made
his own choice--now let him abide by it. You have disregarded
my wish, Lady Helena, in even naming the matter to me. Let all
mention of it cease.
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