"No—for when all the world deserted me," said the maiden, "you befriended me!"
"I have yet other matters of business to consult you upon," continued Markham. "Yesterday evening your uncle called upon me. Never—never have I seen such an alteration so speedily wrought in any living being! He said that certain representations which I had made to him at the tavern in the Old Bailey, after you had departed with Mrs. Bennet, had induced him to reflect more seriously upon the course of life which he had been for years pursuing."
"Oh! these news are welcome—welcome indeed!" ejaculated Katherine, clasping her hands together in token of gratitude.
"I communicated to him your good fortune, Katherine," proceeded Markham; "and he wept like a child."
"Poor uncle! His heart was not altogether closed against me!" murmured Katherine.
"I desired him to call upon me to-morrow, and I assured him that in the meantime I would devise some project by which he should be enabled to earn a livelihood whereof he need not be ashamed."
"You are not content with being my benefactor, Mr. Markham: you intend to make my relatives adore your name!" cried Katherine, her heart glowing with gratitude towards our hero.
"I now intend that you shall be the means of doing good, Katherine," said Richard, with a smile.
"Oh! tell me how!" exclaimed the amiable girl, joyfully.
"You shall draw upon the first year's interest of your fortune, for a sufficient sum to enable your uncle to retire to some distant town, where, under another name, he may commence a business at whose nature he will not be forced to blush."