What, under these circumstances, did his duty to her require of him?
But then, that one great duty, that duty which she would be the first to expect from him; what did that demand of him?
Had Scatcherd made his will without saying what its clauses were, it seemed to Thorne that Mary must have been the heiress, should that clause become necessarily operative.

Whether she were so or not would at any rate be for lawyers to decide.

But now the case was very different.
This rich man had confided in him, and would it not be a breach of confidence, an act of absolute dishonesty--an act of dishonesty both to Scatcherd and to that far-distant American family, to that father, who, in former days, had behaved so nobly, and to that eldest child of his, would it not be gross dishonesty to them all if he allowed this man to leave a will by which his property might go to a person never intended to be his heir?
Long before he had arrived at Greshamsbury his mind on this point had been made up.

Indeed, it had been made up while sitting there by Scatcherd's bedside.

It had not been difficult to make up his mind to so much; but then, his way out of this dishonesty was not so easy for him to find.