Did I think him in earnest?
I told her that it hurt me to say it, but that I had no great confidence in Mr.Harlson's protestations.

He was of the earth, earthy.

A friend, it was true, should bear a friend's infirmities, but he should not ask other people to bear them, nor should he testify to anything but the truth.

Mr.Harlson might or might not be in earnest in what he had declared, but, even if in earnest, there was the matter of persistency.

I doubted seriously his ability to overcome the habits of a lifetime.
She was becoming really interested in the chaffing.
"What is the nature of Mr.Harlson's great iniquity ?" "There, Miss Cornish, I am justified in drawing the line in my reply.
I have conscientiously explained that he was, in a general way, a villain of the deepest dye, but to make specifications would be unfriendly, and I know you wouldn't have me that." Harlson said that he was very much obliged for my toleration, or would be until he got me alone, and Miss Cornish showed a proper spirit, and so I left them.