For all answer, Mrs. Houston put her handkerchief to her face and began to weep.
“No, no, my dear Mrs. Houston, don’t take this too much to heart! these things must be firmly confronted and dealt with—not wept over.”
“Oh, sir! good sir! you don’t know! you don’t know! It is too true! Margaret gives me a world of anxiety.”
“Madam! you shock me! What is it you say?”
“Oh! sir, I am glad you came this morning! I have been wanting to ask your advice for a long time; but I did not like to. It is too true! Margaret is very imprudent!”
“Dear Heaven, madam! do you tell me that you knew of this report, and that it is not unfounded?”
“Oh! no, sir, I knew nothing of the report, as I told you before! I knew that Margaret was very, very imprudent, and gave me excessive uneasiness, but I did not dream that she had compromised herself to such an extent! Oh, never!” exclaimed Nellie, still and always unsuspicious of her own great share in creating the evil.
“You said that you had thought of asking my counsel. If you please to explain, my dear Mrs. Houston, you shall have the benefit of the best counsel my poor ability will furnish.”
“Oh! Heavens, sir! girls are not what they used to be when I was young—though I am scarcely middle-aged now—but they are not.”
“And Miss Helmstedt?”