I
know your creed, sir, and will say no more,' returned his son.
'There again,' said Mr Chester, sipping his wine, 'you are wrong. I
distinctly say there are such things. We know there are. The hearts of
animals--of bullocks, sheep, and so forth--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 heart--pah! these
things are nonsense, Ned.'
'No doubt, sir,' returned his son, seeing that he paused for him to
speak. 'No doubt.'
'There's Haredale's niece, your late flame,' said Mr Chester, as a
careless illustration of his meaning. 'No doubt in your mind she was all
heart once. Now she has none at all. Yet she is the same person, Ned,
exactly.'
'She is a changed person, sir,' cried Edward, reddening; 'and changed by
vile means, I believe.'
'You have had a cool dismissal, have you?' said his father. 'Poor Ned!
I told you last night what would happen.--May I ask you for the
nutcrackers?'
'She has been tampered with, and most treacherously deceived,' cried
Edward, rising from his seat.
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