"I never told you his name. How did you find it out?"
Marion then related all that had passed, and ended with giving the paper which the sick man had dictated when he thought himself dying.
Mrs. Douglass's countenance expressed the deepest feeling, but she braced herself against giving way to her excitement.
"I have been praying earnestly that I might be prepared for this discovery, should it take place," she said. "I will go with you and assure him of my entire forgiveness. Juliette knows nothing of her father's desertion, and she need not be made acquainted with the discovery."
"Oh, Mrs. Douglass, I am sure he will never part with you again."
She shook her head, rose, and put on her bonnet and shawl.
Marion saw that, while she was making a great effort to appear calm, her hands trembled so much that she could not tie the bonnet-strings. Unobserved by the lady, she wrote with pencil on a piece of paper:—
Dear Mrs. Cheriton,—
I have taken your mother with me. Please remain