"We will take the rooms," he said to Mr. Nathan, "if the terms are suitable; we are bound to consider our circumstances, for we are not rich. We have only been in England a few days, and we don't know how long we may stop; so we cannot take them for any definite time."
"The terms will suit you; I'll make them suit you," said Mr. Nathan, with a strange obliviousness of self-interest. "You can take possession at once--you and your daughter."
"This lady is not my daughter. I have a daughter who will live with us; I will bring her here to-day."
"And is that all--only three?"
"Only three of us. You seem disappointed that there are no more."
"I thought--I thought," said Mr. Nathan, hesitating, "that this young lady had a mother."
"She he is dead, poor soul!" murmured Margaret, with tears.
Mr. Nathan turned aside, trembling somewhat, and when he addressed them again, his voice was softer and his eyes were dim.
"Don't think me impertinent, my dear," he said drawing closer to Margaret, "but was your mother--God rest her soul!--ever in Plymouth?"
"She lived here for a long time."