'"
"And what," said George, "did my father, as I shall always call him, say
to all this?
"Truth bred chivalry in him at once. 'I will marry her,' he said, with
hardly a moment's hesitation, 'but it will be better that I should not be
put on any lower footing than Higgs was. I ought not to be denied
anything that has been allowed to him. If I am trusted, I can trust
myself to trust and think no evil either of Higgs or her. They were
pestered beyond endurance, as I have been ere now. If I am held at arm's
length till I am fast bound, I shall marry Yram just the same, but I
doubt whether she and I shall ever be quite happy.'
"'Come to my house this evening,' said Mrs. Humdrum, 'and you will find
Yram there.' He came, he found me, and within a fortnight we were man
and wife."
"How much does not all this explain," said George, smiling but very
gravely. "And you are going to ask me to forgive you for robbing me of
such a father."
"He has forgiven me, my dear, for robbing him of such a son. He never
reproached me. From that day to this he has never given me a harsh word
or even syllable. When you were born he took to you at once, as, indeed,
who could help doing? for you were the sweetest child both in looks and
temper that it is possible to conceive. Your having light hair and eyes
made things more difficult; for this, and your being born, almost to the
day, nine months after Higgs had left us, made people talk--but your
father kept their tongues within bounds.
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