The answer came immediately in a low emphatic tone--"No."
In the mingled emotions which followed that answer it was impossible to distinguish joy from pain.
Some new light had fallen on the past for Sir Hugo too in this interview. After a silence in which Deronda felt like one whose creed is gone before he has religiously embraced another, the baronet said, in a tone of confession,
"Perhaps I was wrong, Dan, to undertake what I did. And perhaps I liked it a little too well--having you all to myself. But if you have had any pain which I might have helped, I ask you to forgive me."
"The forgiveness has long been there," said Deronda "The chief pain has always been on account of some one else--whom I never knew--whom I am now to know. It has not hindered me from feeling an affection for you which has made a large part of all the life I remember."
It seemed one impulse that made the two men clasp each other's hand for a moment.
The answer came: a low emphatic "No."
Some light had fallen on the past for Sir Hugo too in this interview. The baronet said, in a tone of confession-
"Perhaps I was wrong, Dan, to undertake what I did. I liked having you all to myself. But if you have had any pain, I ask you to forgive me."
"The forgiveness has long been there," said Deronda. "The chief pain has always been on account of my mother. But my affection for you has made a large part of my life."
And with one impulse the two men clasped each other's hands.