The whole tenor and spirit of the conversation was instantly changed, and assumed for a moment a painful and disagreeable formality.
"To whom do you allude, sir." she asked.
"To the gentleman, madam, to whom you bowed so graciously, and, let me add, significantly, to-day." "And may I beg to know, sir, what he has told you ?" "Have I not already said that he has told me all?
Yes, madam, I have said so, I think.

But come, Lucy," he added, affecting to relax, "be a good girl; as you said, yourself, it should not be sir and madam between you and me.

You are all I have in the world--my only child, and if I appear harsh to you, it is only because I love and am anxious to make you happy.

Come, my dear child, put confidence in me, and rely upon my affection and generosity." Lucy was staggered for a moment, but only for a moment, for she thoroughly understood him.
"But, papa, if the gentleman you allude to has told you all, what is there left for me to confide to you ?" "Why, the truth is, Lucy, I was anxious to test his sincerity, and to have your version as well as his.

He appears, certainly, to be a gentleman and a man of honor." "And if he be a man of honor, papa, how can you require such a test ?" "I said, observe, that he appears to be such; but, you know, a man may be mistaken in the estimate he forms of another in a first interview.
Come, Lucy, do something to make me your friend." "My friend!" she replied, whilst the tears rose to her eyes.