aid.

"Very probably; but remember this, it may be that he will rave to
some purpose, when such insolence will be but of little avail to you.
Raving! Yes, I suppose that a man poor as I am must be mad indeed to
set his heart upon anything that you may choose to fancy."

"All that is nonsense; Owen, I ask for nothing but my own. I won her
love fairly, and I mean to keep it firmly."

"You may possibly have won her hand, but never her heart. You are
rich, and it may be that even she will condescend to barter her hand;
but I doubt it; I altogether doubt it. It is her mother's doing, as
it was plain enough for me to see the other day at Desmond Court; but
much as she may fear her mother, I cannot think that she will go to
the altar with a lie in her mouth."

And then they walked on in silence for a few yards. Herbert was
anxious to get back to the house, and was by no means desirous of
continuing this conversation with his cousin. He at any rate could
get nothing by talking about Lady Clara Desmond to Owen Fitzgerald.
He stopped therefore on the path, and said, that if Owen had nothing
further to say, he, Herbert, would go back to the house.

"Nothing further! Nothing further, if you understand me; but you
do not. You are not honest enough in this matter to understand any
purpose but your own."

"I tell you what, Owen: I did not come out here to hear myself
abused; and I will not stand it. According to my idea you had no
right whatever to speak to me about Lady Clara Desmond. But you are
my cousin; and therefore I have borne it. It may be as well that we
should both understand that it is once for all. I will not listen to
you again on the same subject."

"Oh, you won't. Upon my word you are a very great man! You will tell
me next, I suppose, that this is your demesne, and will warn me off!"

"Even if I did that, I should not be wrong, under such provocation."

"Very well, sir; then I will go off. But remember this, Herbert
Fitzgerald, you shall live to rue the day when you treated me with
such insolence. And remember this also, Clara Desmond is not your
wife as yet. Everything now seems happy with you, and fortunate; you
have wealth and a fine house, and a family round you, while I am
there all alone, left like a dog, as far as my own relatives are
concerned. But yet it may come to pass that the Earl of Desmond's
daughter will prefer my hand to yours, and my house to your house.
They who mount high may chance to g