The
man whom you struck down this morning is one of our neighbors; you saw
and heard his brutal assault: are you ready to face more of the like
kind? Better than you I know what sentence will be passed upon
you,--what measure awarded. It is for your own sake I say these things;
consider them. I have finished."
Surrey had made to speak a half score of times, and as often checked
himself,--partly that he should not interrupt his companion; partly that
he might be master of his emotions, and say what he had to utter without
heat or excitement.
"Mr. Ercildoune," he now said, "listen to me. I should despise myself
were I guilty of the wicked and vulgar prejudice universal in America. I
should be beneath contempt did I submit or consent to it. Two years ago
I loved Miss Ercildoune without knowing aught of her birth. She is the
same now as then; should I love her the less? If anything hard or cruel
is in her fate that love can soften, it shall be done. If any painful
burdens have been thrown upon her life, I can carry, if not the whole,
then a part of them. If I cannot put her into a safe shelter where no
ill will befall her, I can at least take her into my arms and go with
her through the world. It will be easier for us, I think,--I hope,--to
face any fate if we are together. Ah, sir, do not prevent it; do not
deny me this happiness. Be my ambassador, since she will not let me
speak for myself, and plead my own cause.
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