'As you say. Is not that the Westminster clock beginning to chime the hour? Listen for one minute more. When Judas comes in this afternoon, do you think the man in possession is asleep? No; he is awake, and hears every word that passes, and such a joy comes into his heart as he cannot describe--for he thinks of George, that dear friend, that noble friend, that Man! What does the man in possession do when Judas has gone? He writes a letter, doesn't he? Hark! the last hour is tolling! Twelve!'
The door opens, and Bessie, with a wild cry, moves but a step, and presses her hand to her heart. George stands before her, pale with the excitement of the moment, but hopeful, and with love in his eyes.
'George, my dear boy!' cries old Ben, grasping the young man's hands.
'Can you forgive me, Bessie?' asks George.
A grateful sob escapes from the girl's overcharged heart, and the lovers are linked in a close embrace.
As if this happy union has conjured them up, there enter on the instant Jim Naldret and Mrs. Naldret, she nursing David's little daughter. And behind them, with a wistful look, with hands that are convulsed with excess of tenderness, with eyes and face and heart filled with yearning love, stands the Mother hungering for her child! Tenderly and solemnly Saul places Tottie in Jane's arms. The Mother steals softly into the shop with her child; and Saul follows, and kneels before her. Presently she takes him also to her breast.
'Dear wife? he murmurs; and a prayer of infinite thankfulness for the mercy and the goodness of God comes to his mind.
Half-an-hour afterwards, he enters the room with Jane and their child.
'Bessie,' he says, 'this is my wife, Jane.'
And as Bessie kisses her and caresses her, the sorrow of the past melts into gratitude for the present.