I am going away to London with my friends the Tyrrells, and I will never trouble you any more." I was rather blind by this time, and I was not sure of what part of the room I was in; but Mrs.Hollingford had come to my side, and she put her arms round about me and fondled my head on her breast.
"My dear," she said, "and is this the secret that has made the trouble between us?
I never thought that you wanted to take him from me; on the contrary, I feared that you might be too young to understand his worth.
I dreaded sorrow and suffering for my son, nothing else." My face was hidden in her motherly embrace.

I could not speak for some moments, and I thought my heart had stopped beating.

At last I whispered: "Oh, Mrs.Hollingford, I have made a great mistake.

Can it be that you really--" "Will have you for a daughter ?" she asked, smiling.

"Gladly, thankfully, my darling, if it be for your happiness.