"Knowing you as I do, even in this short space of time," answered Skaife, "let me implore you _never_ to lead her, however slightly, from the path of duty. I know--I am sure--it would rise in your heart against her, some day."
"I would not dream of it, except in an extreme case," said Tremenhere; "but if they take her away, what will my position then be? _There_ she will be under the eye of one--my cousin--who has the devil's cunning. They will act upon her heart in every way. Poor child!--what would she be in their hands?"
"And what would your feelings then be, were she privately your wife? How could you endure in absence all she would be made to suffer?"
"I should have a security, Skaife. They could not force her; and we could but acknowledge our union, even though before the time I myself should wish to do so. I would be again master of the house yonder, before I claimed her."
"You are too sanguine, I fear, in your hopes. I do not for an instant suspect your rights; but I do your power of proving them. There have been too wily persons at work for you ever to discover the lost clue. Seven years have passed, and, were Miss Dalzell your wife, could you patiently wait and labour as many more--perhaps even then without success--and leave her your unacknowledged wife?"
"Pshaw!" replied Tremenhere impatiently, "you argue like a man--a clergyman, bound to give good advice--and one who has never loved!"
He was quite ignorant that the other had ever been a suitor of Minnie's. Skaife looked fixedly at him--then, turning aside, choked down a sigh, and answered with seeming calmness--
"Not as a mere clergyman by profession--bound to throw in his advice on every occasion where there is an opportunity, for form's sake; but as a sincere friend to both. Tremenhere, I beseech you, think well on all you do respecting Miss Dalzell. _I_ believe her to possess strong affections, and far more strength of mind than you give her credit for."
"It may be so. I am sure she loves me now; but she is very young, and ignorant of the world. How could she be certain of resisting the threats and importunities of my enemies?"
"If so weak, how would she be able to pass through the world, and its many devious paths? How never swerve from the straight one? You wrong her; believe me, she is stronger than you imagine in soul and mind."