piece of human wreckage as you are, you speak like an educated man.
Have you no self-respect? Do you never search your heart and
shudder at the horrible degradation which you have brought on
yourself by sheer weakness of will?"
When Maud sneaks out of the castle very early one morning, she is unfortunately seen by her pompous, ill-natured brother Percy from his bedroom window. He hurriedly throws on some mismatched clothes and chases after her, trying to remain undetected by Maud. This leads to him diving into a muddy ditch when Maud turns to look behind her, and throwing one of his shoes at a dog which takes exception to his presence there. Of course Maud has realised that Percy is following her- her enraged, out-of-shape brother huffing and puffing along behind her is a bit hard to miss- but she pretends that she hasn't seen him. Coming to a local parsonage, Maud gets an idea and walks up to the door, knocking and asking to speak to the curate. She tells the young clergyman that she's being followed by a strange man who she fears is deranged because he keeps jumping into the ditch, and that she is too frightened to go any further. The curate, outraged that an innocent young woman should be thus accosted on a public road, shows Maud into his parlour and then marches down to the end of the drive to confront Percy who has just arrived there, limping. The curate surveys him critically: Percy is wearing old, mismatched clothing which he's grown too stout for, has only one shoe on, and is sweaty and splattered with mud from the ditch. Not unnaturally, the clergyman- who frequently preaches about the evils of alcohol- concludes that the degenerate fellow before him is a wretched soul, brought low by the demon liquor. He delivers a sermon on temperance (which includes the quoted words) to the furious Percy who explodes in rage, demanding to see Maud. This, unfortunately for Percy, eventually ends with him being locked in the curate's closet under guard by the local muscle-bound blacksmith while the curate virtuously sees Maud on her way, secure in the knowledge that he has saved a sweet young lady from the clutches of a drunken lout.