Chapter 79 - Page 2

fellow in the world.a€™

a€˜He has a right to be. He has a right to he. A better creature never lived. He reaps what he has sowna€"no more.a€™

a€˜It is not all men,a€™ said Edward, after a momenta€™s hesitation, a€˜who have the happiness to do that.a€™

a€˜More than you imagine,a€™ returned Mr Haredale. a€˜We note the harvest more than the seed-time. You do so in me.a€™

In truth his pale and haggard face, and gloomy bearing, had so far influenced the remark, that Edward was, for the moment, at a loss to answer him.

a€˜Tut, tut,a€™ said Mr Haredale, a€˜a€™twas not very difficult to read a thought so natural. But you are mistaken nevertheless. I have had my share of sorrowsa€"more than the common lot, perhaps, but I have borne them ill. I have broken where I should have bent; and have mused and brooded, when my spirit should have mixed with all Goda€™s great creation. The men who learn endurance, are they who call the whole world, brother. I have turned from the world, and I pay the penalty.a€™

Edward would have interposed, but he went on without giving him time.

a€˜It is too late to evade it now. I sometimes think, that if I had to live my life once more, I might amend this faulta€"not so much, I discover when I search my mind, for the love of what is right, as for my own sake. But even when I make these better resolutions, I instinctively recoil from the idea of suffering again what I have undergone; and in this circumstance I find the unwelcome assurance that I should still be the same man, though I could cancel the past, and begin anew, with its experience to guide me.a€™

a€˜Nay, you make too sure of that,a€™ said Edward.

a€˜You think so,a€™ Mr Haredale answered, a€˜and I am glad you do. I know myself better, and therefore distrust myself more. Let us leave this subject for anothera€"not so far removed from it as it might, at first sight, seem to be. Sir, you still love my niece, and she is still attached to you.a€™

a€˜I have that assurance from her own lips,a€™ said Edward, a€˜and you knowa€"I am sure you knowa€"that I would not exchange it for any blessing life could yield me.a€™

a€˜You are frank, honourable, and disinterested,a€™ said Mr Haredale; a€˜you have forced the conviction that you are so, even on my once- jaundiced mind, and I believe you. Wait here till I come back.a€™

He left the room as he spoke; but soon returned with his niece.

a€˜On that first and only time,a€™ he said,