He
touched delicately on her own past; but his few words were terribly
convincing. "You have spoken to me of Cedric's youth and freshness,"
he observed--"do you think that your past life with its sad
experiences make you a fit mate for him? You may tell me you are
only a few years older; but in knowledge of life he is a mere child
compared to you. It is in the name of his youth--his fresh,
unsullied youth--that I implore you to be generous and set him
free."
Malcolm said more than this--for his own love for Elizabeth made him
eloquent. He must do her this one service: he must deliver her young
brother out of the contaminating hands of these Philistines; and so
he reasoned and pleaded with Leah as he had never pleaded in his
life before.
Soon she was weeping; he could see the tears dropping into her lap.
Then suddenly, as a clock struck, she started up. "It is late--I
must go now or Saul will question me. Indeed--indeed I must go."
"But you will think over all I have said, and let me see you again?"
asked Malcolm anxiously.
"Yes, I will think over it; and if possible I will be here to-
morrow.
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