I am the son of the wealthiest man in Poitiers, and I have lived like a laborer's child.

Whatever your mandates were, I have never complained or murmured at them." "Well, and now I order you to marry Mademoiselle de Puymandour." "Anything but that; I do not love her, and I shall never do so.

Do you wish my whole life to be blighted?
I entreat you to spare me this sacrifice!" "My orders are given, and you must comply with them." "No," answered Norbert quietly, "I will not comply with them." A purple flush passed across the Duke's face, then it faded away, leaving every feature of a livid whiteness.
"Great heavens!" said he in a voice before which Norbert, at one time, would have quailed.

"Whence comes the audacity that makes you venture to dispute my orders ?" "From the feeling that I am acting rightly." "How long is it that it has been right for children to disobey their parents' commands ?" "Ever since parents began to issue unjust commands." This speech put the finishing stroke to the Duke's rage.

He made a step across the room, towards his son, raising the stick that he usually carried high in the air.