“If you have been making visits,” said Mr. Belamour: “I too have had a visitor.”
“The children told me so,” she answered.
“He was greatly delighted with them,” said Mr. Belamour.
“While they, poor little things, never were more happy in their lives. He must have been very kind to them, yet he did not know that they were here.”
“His mother is not communicative respecting them. Ladies who love power seek to preserve it by making little mysteries.”
“It was to see you, sir, that he came.”
“Yes. He ingenuously avowed that he had always been urged to do so by his stepfather, but his mother has always put obstacles in the way, and assured him that he would not gain admission. I have certainly refused to see her, but this is a very different matter—my brother’s only child, my godson, and my ward!”
“I am very glad he has come to see you, sir, and I am sure it has given you pleasure.”
“Pleasure in seeing that he is a lad of parts, and of an ingenuous, affectionate, honest nature, but regret in perceiving how I failed in the confidence that his father reposed in me.”
“But, sir, you could not help it!”