Out of her sphere - University Library

UNLUCKY A UDLEY DALE. 87
Whatever will my father say ? Ten to one
he'll believe this canard, if it reaches his
ears. I do believe I'm the most unlucky
dog in all creation. I no sooner get out of
one hobble, than I'm safe to be drawn into
another ! And
not my fault at all, that I
can see. It's sheer ill luck, every bit of
it," said Audley, setting down to his evil
stars the results of his own folly in being
led astray six years ago by Charlotte Clare's
unlovely wiles, and the evil that had arisen
from a later, and less culpable weakness,
in suffering his friendship for Mrs. Thornton
to take a shape that to censorious eyes
must appear, at the least, questionable. It
was all ill-luck, every bit of it, and his own
imprudence had no more to do with it than
has the unpleasant harvest we all of us
have to reap, at one time or another, with
the seeds we have scattered broadcast,
without a thought of the crop into which
they would mature.