 You can guess the feeling which raised that temptation in me - I am sure
you know it. I am sure you know that the satisfaction of your affections stands
in the way of mine.«
    There was a pause. Mr. Farebrother seemed to wait for a recognition of the
fact; and the emotion perceptible in the tones of his fine voice gave solemnity
to his words. But no feeling could quell Fred's alarm.
    »I could not be expected to give her up,« he said, after a moment's
hesitation: it was not a case for any pretence of generosity.
    »Clearly not, when her affection met yours. But relations of this sort, even
when they are of long standing, are always liable to change. I can easily
conceive that you might act in a way to loosen the tie she feels towards you -
it must be remembered that she is only conditionally bound to you - and that in
that case, another man, who may flatter himself that he has a hold on her
regard, might succeed in winning that firm place in her love as well as respect
which you had let slip. I can easily conceive such a result,« repeated Mr.
Farebrother, emphatically. »There is a companionship of ready sympathy, which
might get the advantage even over the longest associations.«
    It seemed to Fred that if Mr. Farebrother had had a beak and talons instead
of his very capable tongue, his mode of attack could hardly be more cruel. He
had a horrible conviction that behind all this hypothetic statement there was a
knowledge of some actual change in Mary's feeling.
    »Of course I know it might easily be all up with me,« he said, in a troubled
voice. »If she is beginning to compare --« He broke off, not liking to betray
all he felt, and then said, by the help of a little bitterness, »But I thought
you were friendly to me.«
    »So I am; that is why we are here. But I have had a strong disposition to be
otherwise. I have said to myself, If there is a likelihood of that youngster
doing himself harm, why should you interfere? Aren't you worth as much as he is,
and don't your sixteen years over and above his, in which you have gone rather
hungry, give you more right to satisfaction than he has? If there's a chance of
his going to the dogs, let him - perhaps you could nohow hinder it - and do you
take the benefit.
