"
"Well, what will you do?" I asked.
"Go on, of course. I've put my hand to the plough and I am not going
to turn back. I should be a cur if I did, and what's more, whatever he
might say he'd think none the better of me. So please don't try to
persuade me, it would be no good."
For quite a while afterwards young Somers seemed to be comparatively
depressed, a state of mind that in his case was rare indeed. At last,
he studied the wintry landscape through the carriage window and said
nothing. By degrees, however, he recovered, and when we reached
Dartmouth was as cheerful as ever, a mood that I could not altogether
share.
Before we sailed I wrote to Sir Alexander telling him exactly how
things stood, and so I think did his son, though he never showed me
the letter.
At Durban, just as we were about to start up country, I received an
answer from him, sent by some boat that followed us very closely. In
it he said that he quite understood the position, and whatever
happened would attribute no blame to me, whom he should always regard
with friendly feelings.
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