'Throughout his
life he has never disobeyed us.'
'And that is an additional reason,' said the duke, quietly, but in his
sweetest tone, 'why we should not treat as a light ebullition this
first instance of his preferring his own will to that of his father and
mother.'
'He has been so much away from us these last three years,' said the
duchess in a tone of great depression, 'and they are such important
years in the formation of character! But Mr. Bernard, he ought to have
been aware of all this; he ought to have known what was passing through
his pupil's mind; he ought to have warned us. Let us speak to him;
let us speak to him at once. Ring, my dear George, and request the
attendance of Mr. Bernard.'
That gentleman, who was in the library, kept them waiting but a few
minutes. As he entered the room, he perceived, by the countenances
of his noble patrons, that something remarkable, and probably not
agreeable, had occurred. The duke opened the case to Mr. Bernard with
calmness; he gave an outline of the great catastrophe; the duchess
filled up the parts, and invested the whole with a rich and even
terrible colouring.
Nothing could exceed the astonishment of the late private tutor of
Lord Montacute. He was fairly overcome; the communication itself was
startling, the accessories overwhelmed him.
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