A knock at the street door! His knock! I
know every echo of his hand, and his foot. Where
is my composure now? 1 flutter like a bird. I
will not go down. He will think I love him so.

At least I will wait till he has nearly gone.

Elizabeth has come to say I am wanted in the
drawing-room.

So I must go down whether I like or no.

Bedtime. Oh that I had the pen of a writer
to record the scene I have witnessed, worthily.
When I came in, I found mamma and him both
seated in dead silence. He rose and looked at
me and I at him: and years seemed to have rolled
over his face since last I saw it; I was obliged to
turn my head away; I curtseyed to him distantly,
and may Heaven forgive me for that: and we sat
down, and presently turned round and all looked
at one another like the ghosts of the happy
creatures we once were all together.

Then Alfred began, not in his old imperative
voice, but scarce above a whisper; and oh the
words such as none but himself in the wide world
would have spoken—I love him better than ever;
I pity him; I adore him; he is a scholar; he is
a chevalier; he is the soul of honour; he is the
most unfortunate and proudest gentleman
beneath the sun; oh, my darling! my darling!!

He said, 'Mrs.Dodd, and you Miss Dodd, whom
I loved before I lost the right to ask you to be
mine, and whom I shall love to the last hour of
my miserable existence, I am come to explain
my own conduct to you, and to do you an act of
simple justice, too long delayed. To begin with
myself, you must know that my understanding is
of the Academic School; I incline to weigh
proofs before I make up my mind. But then I
differ from that school in this, that I cannot
think myself to an eternal standstill; (such an
expression! but what does that matter, it was
his;) I am a man of action: in Hamlet's place
I should have either turned my ghost into ridicule,
or my uncle into a ghost; so I kept away from
you while in doubt: but, now I doubt no longer,
I take my line; ladies, you have been swindled
out of a large sum of money.'

My blood ran cold at these words. Surely
nothing on earth but a man could say this right
out like that.

Mamma and I looked at one another; and
what did I see in her face, for the first time?
Why that she had her suspicions too, and had
been keeping them from me. Pitying angel!

He went on: 'Captain Dodd brought home
several thousand pounds?'

Mamma said 'Yes.' And I think she was
going to say how much, but he stopped her and
made her write the amount in an envelope, while
he took another and wrote in it with his pencil;
he took both envelopes to me, and asked me to
read them out in turn: I did; and mamma's said
fourteen thousand pounds: and his said fourteen
thousand pounds. Mamma looked such a look
at me.

Then he turned to me: ' Miss Dodd, do you
remember that night you and I met at Richard
Hardie's door? Well, scarce five minutes before
that, your father was standing on our lawn and
called to the man, who was my father, in a loud
voice—it rings in my ears now—"Hardie!
Villain! give me back my money, my fourteen
thousand pounds! give me my children's money,
or may your children die before your eyes." Ah,
you wince to hear me whisper these dreadful
words: what, if you had been where I was, and
heard them spoken, and in a terrible voice; the
voice of Despair; the voice of Truth! Soon a
window opened cautiously, and a voice whispered,
"Hush! I'll bring it you down." And this voice
was the voice of fear, of dishonesty, and of
Richard Hardie.'

He turned deadly white when he said this, and
I cried to mamma, 'Oh, stop him! stop him!'
And she said, 'Alfred, think what you are
saying. Why do you tell us what we had better
never know?' He answered directly,

'Because it is the truth: and because I loathe
injustice. Some time afterwards I taxed Mr.
Richard Hardie with this fourteen thousand
pounds: and his face betrayed him. I taxed his
clerk, Skinner: and Skinner's face betrayed him:
and he fled the town that very night.'

My mother looked much distressed and said,
'To what end do you raise this pitiable subject?
Your father is a bankrupt, and we but suffer with
the rest.'

'No, no,' said he, 'l have looked through
the bankrupt's books, and there is no mention of
the sum. And then who brought Captain Dodd
here? Skinner: and Skinner is his detected
confederate. It is clear to me poor Captain
Dodd trusted that sum to us, before he had the
fit: beyond this all is conjecture.'

Mamma looked at me again, and said, 'What
am I to do; or say?'

I screamed, ' Do nothing, say nothing: oh
pray, pray make him hold his tongue, and let the
vile money go. It is not his fault."

'Do?' said the obstinate creature: 'why tell
Edward, and let him employ a sharp attorney:
you have a supple antagonist, and a daring one.
Need I say I have tried persuasion, and even
bribes: but he defies me. Set an attorney on
him; or the police. Fiat Justitia, ruat cœlum.'
I put both hands out to him and burst out, 'Oh,
Alfred, why did you tell? A son expose his own
father? For shame! for shame! I have
suspected it all long ago: but I would never have
told.'

He started a little; but said, 'Miss Dodd,
you were very generous to me; but that is not
exactly a reason why I should be a cur to you;
and an accomplice in a theft, by which you suffer.
I have no pretensions to religion like my sister:
so I can't afford to tamper with plain right and
wrong. What, look calmly on and see one man
defraud another? I can't do it. See you
defrauded? you, Mrs. Dodd, for whom I profess
affection and friendship ? You, Miss Dodd, for