"Had you any idea that the young fellow might possibly ask for her?"
"I hoped so once, not because it would be a good marriage for Pam, or anything of that sort, but because I thought him a good lad, and I believed in his father's son. I was disappointed that he turned out so different from my expectations."
"Would you be surprised to hear that he wrote to you about Pam immediately after he left, and that his mother intercepted the letter?"
"His mother!"
"Yes; she had other views for him."
"I wonder why she came here, why she troubled our peace, and forced her hospitality on Pam, who didn't want it?" said Mr. Graydon musingly.
"To make a parting between the lad and Pam more certain. She told Pam he was engaged to his cousin; and in other ways made the child's visit miserable."
"My poor Pam! I remember she hated to go."
"I am sorry the boy has such a mother."
"Yet I remember her a very noble-looking girl. I don't think she was made for mean things."