"
"Quizzed!" said Sir Rowland. "Does quizzing make a man mad?"
L'Isle dared not trust himself longer in Lord Strathern's company; he
wanted time to recover his self-command; so he again addressed Sir
Rowland: "That I left Elvas so suddenly, and unprepared for a
prolonged absence, matters little, Sir Rowland; but I have been so
little with my regiment of late, that--"
"Let your major take care of it a few days longer," Sir Rowland
answered, in a positive tone.
"You had better let L'Isle go, Sir Rowland," said Lord Strathern. "He
is afraid to lose sight of his regiment, lest they become banditti."
L'Isle's flushed cheek and compressed lips, showed that he felt the
taunt, while Sir Rowland exclaimed, in surprise: "Are they so unruly?
Then you must look to them yourself, my lord, for I shall keep Colonel
L'Isle a while with me. The truth is, L'Isle, I divine your urgent
business at Elvas. Some one there has given you gross offence, and you
seek revenge under the name of satisfaction. There is always sin and
folly enough in these affairs; but here, within sight of the smoke of
the enemy's camp, and now, when we are about to fall upon them, these
personal feuds are criminal madness.
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