And therefore, I pray thee, brother, let me go with you when
you go next up the glen, where, as you well know, there be places of
evil reputation--Thou carest not for my escort; but, Halbert, such
dangers are more safely encountered by the wise in judgment, than by
the bold in bosom; and though I have small cause to boast of my own
wisdom, yet I have that which ariseth from the written knowledge of
elder times."
There was a moment during this discourse, when Halbert had well-nigh
come to the resolution of disburdening his own breast, by intrusting
Edward with all that weighed upon it. But when his brother reminded
him that this was the morning of a high holiday, and that, setting
aside all other business or pleasure, he ought to go to the Monastery
and shrive himself before Father Eustace, who would that day occupy
the confessional, pride stepped in and confirmed his wavering
resolution. "I will not avow," he thought, "a tale so extraordinary,
that I may be considered as an impostor or something worse--I will not
fly from this Englishman, whose arm and sword may be no better than my
own. My fathers have faced his betters, were he as much distinguished
in battle as he is by his quaint discourse."
Pride, which has been said to save man, and woman too, from falling,
has yet a stronger influence on the mind when it embraces the cause of
passion, and seldom fails to render it victorious over conscience and
reason.
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