The lovely woman turned her eyes pleadingly upon Ralph for a moment, then, with a passionate burst of tears bowed her stately head upon his shoulder.
He clasped her convulsively to him, and in a broken, husky voice replied:
“Mother—the sweetest name I have ever spoken—it is I who should ask your forgiveness for not better improving the privileges which, to gain for me, you doomed yourself to a solitary, loveless life. It is I who should sue for pardon, that I have allowed my heart to become like a garden full of noxious weeds, instead of bright blooming flowers, whose fragrance and beauty would now be grateful to you, and in a measure repay you for your great sacrifice.”
She would have stopped him with a kiss, but he gently restrained her, saying, with a sad smile:
“No; let me lay bare my whole heart to you, and show you that I am not wholly hardened and depraved. I know I have too willingly been influenced to do evil and crime, but I beg that you will believe me when I say that I have often felt the stingings and upbraidings of conscience, and I now humbly repent all the evil I have ever done or contemplated doing. Say that you forgive me, my sweet mother, and you too, my father, and I promise you that my life henceforth shall be devoted to your comfort and happiness, and to the atonement of injuries which I have done to others.”
“Bless you, my boy!” said Rose Ellerton, raising her face radiant with happiness; “your words make my heart leap for joy, and I seal your pardon thus.”
She took his pale grave face between her slender hands, and kissed him lovingly upon his quivering lips.
Then, with a half-drawn sob, he turned for that other pardon he so much desired.
It was not denied him!
Alfred Ellerton clasped his son’s hand warmly, and said, with a deeper feeling: