What could I do, Nelly?
He was my father, and I felt that I owed him some duty.

I could not refuse to see him; and if he had some personal objection to coming here, it seemed a small thing for me to take the trouble to go and meet him.

I could but hear what he had to say." "I wish to heaven I had been here!" exclaimed Ellen; "you shouldn't have gone alone, if I had known anything about it." "I think, if you had been here, I should have told you about the letter, for it puzzled me a good deal, and I knew how well I could trust you.

But you were away; and my father's request was so urgent--the hour was named--I could do nothing but accede to it.

So I went, leaving no message for you or for my husband, feeling so sure of my return within an hour or two." "And you found your father waiting for you ?" "Yes, on the river-bank, within a short distance of Mr.Whitelaw's house.
He began by congratulating me on the change in my prospects,--I was a rich woman, he said.