"Sir?"

"I am laying down good intentions，which I believe durable as flint. Certainly，my associates and pursuits shall be other than they have been."

"And better?"

"And better- so much better as pure ore is than foul dross. You seem to doubt me; I don"t doubt myself: I know what my aim is，what my motives are; and at this moment I pass a law，unalterable as that of the Medes and persians，that both are right."

"They cannot be，sir，if they require a new statute to legalise them."

"They are，Miss Eyre，though they absolutely require a new statute: unheard-of binations or circumstances demand unheard-of rules."

"That sounds a dangerous maxim，sir; because one can see at once that it is liable to abuse."

"Sententious sage! so it is: but I swear by my household gods not to abuse it."

"You are human and fallible."

"I am: so are you- what then?"

"The human and fallible should not arrogate a power with which the divine and perfect alone can be safely intrusted."

"What power?"

"That of saying of any strange，unsanctioned line of action,- "Let it be right.""

""Let it be right"- the very words: you have pronounced them."

"May it be right then," I said，as I rose，deeming it useless to continue a discourse which was all darkness to me; and，besides，sensible that the character of my interlocutor was beyond my penetration; at least，beyond its present reach; and feeling the uncertainty，the vague sense of insecurity，which acpanies a conviction of ignorance.

"Where are you going?"