"She is not; she is a very worthy woman, but she is not your mother."
"Well, who is my mother?"
"The first Mrs. Montague, of course; she died in Cuba when you were only a few months old. Mrs. Wayland—as she was then—was your nurse. She has brought you up, and brought you up very well too, for it appears that you are an honest, good boy, noble, brave, and intelligent."
"But what's the reason I never knew anything about this before?" asked the puzzled youth.
"I'll tell you;" and Mr. Barkesdale told the story which is related in the first two chapters.
"I supposed I had a mother, but no father. It turns out just the other way," said Robert, rubbing his throbbing head.
"And your father is one of the best men in the world."
"Mrs. Taylor is one of the best women in the world; and I shall be sorry to leave her. I don't like to believe she is not my mother, after all she has done for me. I don't believe she ever spoke a cross word to me in her life;" and the tears started in the boy's eyes.
"I don't think you will have to leave her. Your father will take her up to Belfast."
