I had the honor of travelling in the same coach with
her to the metropolis; but I was altogether unconscious of being her
fellow-traveller until we arrived in Dublin. A few brief words of
conversation I had with her in the coach, but nothing more."
"And you presume to say that you know not where she is--that you are
ignorant of the place of her retreat'?"
"Yes, I presume to say so, Sir Thomas; I have already pledged my honor
as a gentleman to that effect, and I shall not repeat it."
"As a gentleman!--but how do I know that you are a man of honor and a
gentleman?"
"Sir Thomas, don't allow your passion or prejudice to impose upon your
judgment and penetration as a man of the world. I know you feel this
moment that you are addressing a man who is both; and your own heart
tells you that every word I have uttered respecting Miss Gourlay is
true."
"You will excuse me there, sir," replied the baronet. "Your position in
this neighborhood is anything but a guarantee to the truth of what you
say. If you be a gentleman--a man of honor, why live here, incognito,
afraid to declare your name, or your rank, if you have any?--why lie
_perdu_, like a man under disgrace, or who had fled from justice?"
"Well, then, I beg you to rest satisfied that I am not under disgrace,
and that I have motives for concealing my name that are disinterested,
and even honorable, to myself, if they were known.
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