"I know," said she, "that I am indebted to Mrs. Meridith's kindness for every advantage I possess, and that I have no claim to the title of her daughter; my birth was obscure, and my father, I fear, little worthy of that name; but my mother deserved a better fate, and her family was respected by every one, though they are in humble life, and the more so, for not wishing to step out of it. My uncle, whose sentiments would do honour to the highest station, was a father to me, till Mrs. Meridith took me under her care, when I was too young to solicit such favour, or even to think of it; nor have I used any arts to have it continued; but the sense I have of her kindness ought to make me grateful; nor can I think my whole life spent in promoting her happiness too great a return."
"Are your parents both dead?" asked her friend.
"My mother is," said Anna, "and I have reason to think my father also, as he has not been heard of since I was born: but it would give me great satisfaction to known he was become a better man; and then, let his situation be ever so poor, it would be my pleasure, as well as my duty, to assist him, as far as is in my power."
"You are certainly an extraordinary girl," returned the young lady, "but should not you be ashamed to find him a beggar?"
"Not unless his own ill conduct had made him so," replied Anna, "but if unavoidable poverty, or ill health, had reduced him to that state, he should not be a beggar long."
"Mrs. Meridith would prevent that," said the other.
"I have no claim upon her, as I said before," returned Anna, "and her kindness to me is no reason she should extend her benevolence to my father; though she never sees any body in want without relieving them. But the education she has given me, would enable me to gain a support for him; and in this light she would prevent it."
"Well, I must again say you are an extraordinary girl," replied her visitor, "and I like you better than ever; such sentiments as your's deserve regard—how superior to the vain boast of birth and title!"
"Birth and title without these opinions lose half their value in my estimation," replied Anna, "but with them they reflect honour on each other; and do not imagine, because I do not possess them, that I despise those advantages; these distinctions in society are necessary, and should very seldom be broke through: yet I am an exception to my own rule, as I am well aware, through Mrs. Meridith's kindness, I am placed in a very different situation from what I should otherwise be in."