He listened, when she could speak, to her sorrowful communication silently; and he read the letter she handed to him with a bitter smile of contempt. Then he said to her—
“I at least have better news for you. I have communicated with the plaintiff in the suit against your father. I have stated to him the very, very painful position in which you are placed, and I urged upon him to delay for a short time the last proceedings in this unhappy affair. In a kind and feeling letter, I have his instructions to keep everything as it is until further notice. I am not to permit a single article in the household to be touched. I am to remove one of the men, and the one remaining is to be placed where he will not be seen; and I am further directed personally to see that the terrible condition of Mrs. Grahame is not injured by anything that may hereafter occur.”
Evangeline pressed his hand warmly. “Your intelligence is welcome indeed,” she said, with emotion; “I feared that we should be cast upon the wide world to perish, with no pitying soul to hold forth a hand to save us.”
“Yes, one—I hope one,” said Charley, gently. “Who?” she asked, in simple surprise.
He hesitated for a moment, and then he replied in a low tone, which gradually grew earnest—
“I could not have seen you placed in so distressful a position without proffering my humble aid. I would have done my best to have secured you from the worst pangs of friendless privation. My dear, dear sister Lotte would have welcomed you, and shared her home with you. It would have been a long remove from the splendour of your own, but in the sincerity of heart, and the earnestness of desire to make you happy, to have been found within its walls, it would at least have equalled it.”
Evangeline again pressed his hand, but her heart was too full to speak.
“I shall see you at your own abode to-morrow morning, Miss Grahame,” he said; “and be assured, so far as lies in my power, every effort to remove all trace of the presence of the individuals whose office is so offensive shall be made, so that, however unhappy the circumstances may be which still surround you, that annoyance shall be withdrawn from you.”
“I can never forget your kindness, Mr. Clinton,” murmured Evangeline. “I cannot hope to repay it but by offering up my prayers for your welfare and your happiness.”
As the last word escaped her lips, Evangeline was struck by the thought that the task of administering to that happiness would be delightful to the happy, happy woman to whom it would be entrusted. She sighed. Oh! that it might be her lot. But no! The frowns of fortune were upon their house, and she had but to look forward to a life of secret sorrow, passed in tending her mother through all the miserable phases of her terrible affliction, which the most eminent physicians had pronounced incurable.