The hand he held crept up a little nearer his face.
‘Do you feel quite strong enough to know what a great fortune I have got?’
‘I shall be very glad to be told. No fortune can be too great or good for Little Dorrit.’
‘I have been anxiously waiting to tell you. I have been longing and longing to tell you. You are sure you will not take it?’
‘Never!’
‘You are quite sure you will not take half of it?’
‘Never, dear Little Dorrit!’
As she looked at him silently, there was something in her affectionate face that he did not quite comprehend: something that could have broken into tears in a moment, and yet that was happy and proud.
‘You will be sorry to hear what I have to tell you about Fanny. Poor Fanny has lost everything. She has nothing left but her husband’s income. All that papa gave her when she married was lost as your money was lost. It was in the same hands, and it is all gone.’
Arthur was more shocked than surprised to hear it. ‘I had hoped it might not be so bad,’ he said: ‘but I had feared a heavy loss there, knowing the connection between her husband and the defaulter.’