"I am here, and I must bear all that follows.

I had hoped to preserve my incognito.

If I cannot, well, I must bear the shame." "And your mother ?" asked the lawyer.
"My poor mother! Perhaps, after all, you had better go down to Ulverston and tell her! She will begin to wonder where I am.

Besides, the London house must be attended to." "If I know Lady Carruthers rightly," said the lawyer, "she will never get over the blow." "Tell her that I am here, and why, but tell her also that I refuse to give an explanation to any human being.

Tell her the honor of the Carruthers seals my lips; try to comfort her if she seems distressed; do all she wishes you." "How am I to comfort a mother whose eldest and only son has thrown all prudence to the wind; who has disgraced himself so far as to stand in a felon's dock; who has wantonly laid his life bare and waste--for what ?" A strange smile came over the young face.
"Ah! for what! I know; no one else does.