"Child, child!" he said sorrowfully. "I take your hand, and kiss it because I love you, and because I feel that your words convey a deeper meaning than they express. But I am an old man, and I have seen trouble, and have felt its bitter experiences. I would not willingly encourage you in what may bring bad consequences to both of us."
"Not if we are wary, daddy--not if we are cunning. You don't know what prompts me to speak so! Ah, daddy! Do you remember my telling you, when you first opened out the prospect of this pretty little cottage to me, that I was wilful, and might tease you a good deal, and that for that reason you had better consider very seriously whether it would do for you and me to live together as you proposed? I don't know whether to be thankful or sorry that I consented. I was very happy then--very, very happy."
"You did it for my sake, Lizzie," he said humbly.
"Not altogether; I did it a good deal for my own. I thought how nice it would be for Alfred."
She covered her face with her hands to hide her tears.
"You took pity on my lonely life, Lizzie, and I bless you for it, my child! You have brought much happiness to me, and things have occurred to me since then--such wonderful things."
She looked up, with the tears in her eyes.
"What wonderful things, daddy?"
"That is my secret, my dear," he said sadly. "You do not know the history of my past life. The time may come--and soon--when you will learn it. I have become a better man, I hope, since we came to live here. Sit by me, my child, and tell me your trouble."
She seated herself on a stool at his feet, and took his hand and caressed it.