Besides
why should I? We have cut each other these four years."
CHAPTER LXXXII
It almost seemed as though our casual mention of Theobald and Christina
had in some way excited them from a dormant to an active state. During
the years that had elapsed since they last appeared upon the scene they
had remained at Battersby, and had concentrated their affection upon
their other children.
It had been a bitter pill to Theobald to lose his power of plaguing his
first-born; if the truth were known I believe he had felt this more
acutely than any disgrace which might have been shed upon him by Ernest's
imprisonment. He had made one or two attempts to reopen negotiations
through me, but I never said anything about them to Ernest, for I knew it
would upset him. I wrote, however, to Theobald that I had found his son
inexorable, and recommended him for the present, at any rate, to desist
from returning to the subject. This I thought would be at once what
Ernest would like best and Theobald least.
A few days, however, after Ernest had come into his property, I received
a letter from Theobald enclosing one for Ernest which I could not
withhold.
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