Edward turned upon his brother. “Now what the devil did you want to put me through a scene like that for? So undignified! So utterly uncalled for! A quarrel with a man so far beneath you!” Hal stood where the superintendent had left him. He was looking at his brother's angry face. “Was that all you got out of it, Edward?”
“All that stuff about your private character! What do you care what a fellow like Cartwright thinks about you?”
“I care nothing at all what he thinks, but I care about having him use such a slander. That's one of their regular procedures, so Billy Keating says.”
Edward answered, coldly, “Take my advice, and realise that when you deny a scandal, you only give it circulation.”
“Of course,” answered Hal. “That's what makes me so angry. Think of the girl, the harm done to her!”
“It's not up to you to worry about the girl.”
“Suppose that Cartwright had slandered some woman friend of yours. Would you have felt the same indifference?”
“He'd not have slandered any friend of mine; I choose my friends more carefully.”
“Yes, of course. What that means is that you choose them among the rich. But I happen to be more democratic in my tastes—”
“Oh, for heaven's sake!” cried Edward. “You reformers are all alike—you talk and talk and talk!”
“I can tell you the reason for that, Edward—a man like you can shut his eyes, but he can't shut his ears!”
“Well, can't you let up on me for awhile—long enough to get out of this place? I feel as if I were sitting on the top of a volcano, and I've no idea when it may break out ag............