Chapter 32 - Page 2

address? Good God, how very coarse!a€™

a€˜I was about to speak to you from my heart, sir,a€™ returned Edward, a€˜in the confidence which should subsist between us; and you check me in the outset.a€™

a€˜Now do, Ned, do not,a€™ said Mr Chester, raising his delicate hand imploringly, a€˜talk in that monstrous manner. About to speak from your heart. Dona€™t you know that the heart is an ingenious part of our formationa€"the centre of the blood-vessels and all that sort of thinga€"which has no more to do with what you say or think, than your knees have? How can you be so very vulgar and absurd? These anatomical allusions should be left to gentlemen of the medical profession. They are really not agreeable in society. You quite surprise me, Ned.a€™

a€˜Well! there are no such things to wound, or heal, or have regard for. I know your creed, sir, and will say no more,a€™ returned his son.

a€˜There again,a€™ said Mr Chester, sipping his wine, a€˜you are wrong. I distinctly say there are such things. We know there are. The hearts of animalsa€"of bullocks, sheep, and so fortha€"are cooked and devoured, as I am told, by the lower classes, with a vast deal of relish. Men are sometimes stabbed to the heart, shot to the heart; but as to speaking from the heart, or to the heart, or being warm-hearted, or cold-hearted, or broken-hearted, or being all heart, or having no hearta€"pah! these things are nonsense, Ned.a€™

a€˜No doubt, sir,a€™ returned his son, seeing that he paused for him to speak. a€˜No doubt.a€™

a€˜Therea€™s Haredalea€™s niece, your late flame,a€™ said Mr Chester, as a careless illustration of his meaning. a€˜No doubt in your mind she was all heart once. Now she has none at all. Yet she is the same person, Ned, exactly.a€™

a€˜She is a changed person, sir,a€™ cried Edward, reddening; a€˜and changed by vile means, I believe.a€™

a€˜You have had a cool dismissal, have you?a€™ said his father. a€˜Poor Ned! I told you last night what would happen.a€"May I ask you for the nutcrackers?a€™

a€˜She has been tampered with, and most treacherously deceived,a€™ cried Edward, rising from his seat. a€˜I never will believe that the knowledge of my real position, given her by myself, has worked this change. I know she is beset and tortured. But though our contract is at an end, and broken past all redemption; though I charge upon her want of firmness and want of truth, both to herself and me; I do not now, and never will believe, that any sordid motive, or