"But that," he added, "is not to say that I oppose it. I disapprove,
but I stand aside. Until she is of full age her brother will refuse his
sanction. After that, the matter will concern neither him nor myself."
"I hope," said Sir Oliver, "he will take as wise a view. But whatever
view he takes will be no matter. For the rest, Sir John, I thank you
for your frankness, and I rejoice to know that if I may not count you
for my friend, at least I need not reckon you among my enemies."
But if Sir John was thus won round to a neutral attitude, Master Peter's
rancour abated nothing; rather it increased each day, and presently
there came another matter to feed it, a matter of which Sir Oliver had
no suspicion.
He knew that his brother Lionel rode almost daily to Malpas, and he knew
the object of those daily rides. He knew of the lady who kept a sort of
court there for the rustic bucks of Truro, Penryn, and Helston, and he
knew something of the ill-repute that had attached to her in town--a
repute, in fact, which had been the cause of her withdrawal into the
country. He told his brother some frank and ugly truths, concerning
her, by way of warning him, and therein, for the first time, the twain
went very near to quarrelling.
After that he mentioned her no more. He knew that in his indolent way
Lionel could be headstrong, and he knew human nature well enough to be
convinced that interference here would but set up a breach between
himself and his brother without in the least achieving its real object.
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