It is impossible
for those who have minds capable of appreciating the delicacies of
friendship, to re-unite the bonds of esteem and confidence, when they
have been violently rent asunder by cunning or treachery. Beside, Barton
admitted that he saw in the behaviour of De Vallance more of the
apprehensions of timorous guilt than the renovated spirit of self-abased
contrition.
Eustace inherited the deep sensibilities of his father, but a train of
happy years rose in perspective before him. Unbroken health, unclouded
fame, successful love, wealth, and greatness--at the hour of his
restoration to all these blessings, he must have been a monster who
could have withheld cordial forgiveness from a humiliated miserable
enemy. Eustace visited the man who had doomed him to a premature grave,
with a sincere desire to prolong his life, and restore his peace. To the
relief afforded by a conviction that the guilt of his nephew's murder
did not lie upon his soul, De Vallance received the additional
consolation of knowing that his own son was alive, and acknowledged by
Eustace as a most beloved friend and future brother.
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