I
want no pledges, nor do I want to bind you in any way. I will not
say more, except that it has been a very deep delight to me to find
a son in my old age. I had always hoped it would turn out so; and
in my experience, God is very careful to give us our desires, just
or unjust, great or small.--Your loving Aunt,
"ANNE GRAVES."
Howard was stupefied for a moment by this communication, but he was
more affected by the love and confidence it showed than by the
prospect of wealth--wealth was not a thing he had ever expected, or
indeed thought much about; but it was a home that he had found. The
great lack of his life had been a local attachment, a place where
he had reason to live. Cambridge with all its joys had never been
quite that. A curious sense of emotion at the thought that the
sweet place, the beautiful old house, was to be his own, came over
him; and another far-off dream darted into his mind as well, which
he did not dare to shape. He got up and wrote a short note.
"MY DEAR AUNT,--Your letter fills me with astonishment. I can only
say that I accept in love and gratitude what you offer me. The
feeling that I have found a home and a mother, so suddenly and so
unexpectedly, fills me with joy and happiness. I think with sadness
of all the good years I have missed, by a sort of stupid
perversity; but I won't regard that now. I will only thank you once
more with all my heart for the proof of affection which your letter
gives me.
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