“I went down the following day to Harleydale,” he said, “and there learned the terrible circumstances which had driven you, Wilton, to leave there. I returned to London, and sought you out, but too late to be of the service I intended. I became your landlord, but not until she whom I sought had sunk into her grave. When this dreadful blow smote me, I registered a vow that I would strive to ensure the happiness of her children. I have striven to fulfil that vow, and I shall not cease in my efforts until it is accomplished, or my powers to act are stayed by the hand of the Inevitable.”
“You, then,” said Wilton, anxiously, “are not Nathan Gomer, but——”
“Allan Eliott Eglinton, claimant and heir-at-law to those estates which have been so long in Chancery, which, had you been just, might have been yours, but now must be mine. You now know, Wilton, who I am, and why I have spared neither time nor money to restore you to affluence. You, who beggared me of all I valued in the world—you, who so well remembered my services, and so liberally rewarded them.”
Wilton covered his eyes with his hands, and sank back in his chair with a groan.
Flora stole to the side of the dwarf, and knelt to him. She pointed to her father and then to heaven.
“Pardon him for her sake,” she said, in trembling accents.
He pressed her hands and raised her from her suppliant posture.
“For her dear sake,” he murmured, “all is forgiven.”
There was a moment’s silence; then Nathan Gomer said—
“Still there is something to clear up, Wilton. Be a man and attend to me, for the welfare of your children is now at stake. I have committed myself to the love-labour of securing their earthly happiness if within the compass of my power, and therefore I shall now proceed to renew the conversation which so abruptly parted us. I suggested that you should reward young Mr. Vivian with the hand of your daughter Flora, upon what I consider to be sound reasons. First, they love each other; that I expect, from past experience, you will admit is a strong element in producing happiness in wedded life. Secondly, Mr. Vivian possesses many admirable qualifications. He is high-spirited, honourable, generous, and capable of the most enduring attachment; he is brave, persevering, industrious; he is well educated, and in the event of reverses, can support his family by his remarkable skill; he has been—as far as resources go—so fortunate as to discover the will of Mr. Harper, which proved that very respectable and good man to have been infinitely richer than he had the credit of being. The provisions of the will leave a handsome stipend to the widow, a small income to the son—who, by the way, is on his death-bed, the results of excessive drinking—and the whole of the residue of his wealth to Mr. Henry Vivian. Now, Wilton, does your pride still step in between your daughter and her future happiness?”