He was gone, and the father was so alone in the world, without any heir and with no prop to his house.

She thought of all this as she heard his step coming slowly up the stairs.

Slowly he came along the passage, and though she dreaded his coming, it almost seemed as though he would never be there.
When he had entered the room she was the first to speak.

"Oh, Hugh!" she exclaimed, "oh, Hugh!" He had closed the door before he uttered a word, and then he threw himself into a chair.

There were candles near to him, and she could see that his countenance also was altered.