At the end of a minute he was back at her side.
“Mrs Brandon,” he said, “will you also be my friend? Will you act as counsel and judge for us both? I will leave my fate in your hands. Think quietly over it all, talk to Ella, and see what is right. You will not judge me wrongly again,” he said, smiling.
“I cannot think calmly now,” she said; “I am agitated and taken aback. I thought to castigate a libertine, and I have been, I fear, lacerating the heart of a true gentleman! Go now, I beg of you!”
“But you will let me see her once—but for a minute?” pleaded Charley.
“No!” said Mrs Brandon firmly. “It is her wish, and mine, that you should not see her now.”
“Now!” said Charley, catching at the word. “Then I may call again—to-morrow—the next day?”
“No!” said Mrs Brandon thoughtfully; “no! be content. I am but a weak woman, and I have shown myself to be no judge of human character. I must have proof and the words of others; when, if you come scatheless from the ordeal, I will be your friend.”
“You will!” cried Charley joyfully, as he caught her hands in his; and then what more he would have said was choked by his emotion. “When may I come again?” he said at last.
“To see me?” queried Mrs Brandon smilingly.
“Yes,” replied Charley, with a sigh.