hout your full sanction.' I Rest assured, then, that I will
never sanction the departure of Tancred on this crusade.'

'Then he will never go, at least, with my consent,' said the duke; 'but
Katherine, assist me, my dear wife. All shall be, shall ever be, as
you wish; but I shrink from being placed, from our being placed, in
collision with our child. The mere exercise of parental authority is a
last resource; I would appeal first, rather to his reason, to his heart;
your arguments, his affection for us, may yet influence him.' 'You tell
me you have argued with him,' said the duchess in a melancholy tone.

'Yes, but you know so much more on these subjects than I do, indeed,
upon all subjects; you are so clever, that I do not despair, my dear
Katherine, of your producing an impression on him.'

'I would tell him at once,' said the duchess, firmly, 'that the
proposition cannot be listened to.'

The duke looked very distressed. After a momentary pause, he said, 'If,
indeed, you think that the best; but let us consult before we take that
step, because it would seem to terminate all discussion, and discussion
may yet do good. Besides, I cannot conceal from myself that Tancred in
this affair is acting under the influence of very powerful motives; his
feelings are highly strung; you have no idea, you can have no idea from
what we have seen of him hitherto, how excited he is. I had no idea of
his being capable of such excitement. I always thought him so very calm,
and of such a quiet turn. And so, in short, my dear Katherine, were we
to be abrupt at this moment, peremptory, you understand, I--I should not
be surprised, were Tancred to go without our permission.'

'Impossible!' exclaimed the duchess, starting in her chair, but with
as much consternation as confidence in her countenance. 'Throughout his
life he has never disobeyed us.'

'And that is an additional reason,' said the duke, quietly, but in his
sweetest tone, 'why we should not treat as a light ebullition this
first instance of his preferring his own will to that of his father and
mother.'

'He has been so much away from us these last three years,' said the
duchess in a tone of great depression, 'and they are such important
years in the formation of character! But Mr. Bernard, he ought to have
been aware of all this; he ought to have known what was passing through
his pupil's mind; he ought to have warned us. Let us speak to him;
let us speak to him at once. Rin