Amy followed him, not
without some apprehension, up three flights of dark steep stairs; but
her fears were relieved when, her gentle tap at the door to which her
guide pointed, was answered by the well-known voice of her early
friend.
The meeting was affecting in the extreme; but Amy did not find the
invalid reduced quite so low as her imagination had pictured. Though
a few months only had elapsed since they parted, each had a long tale
of trials to tell, and that Amy had to relate was rendered doubly
distressing by the confession she was forced to make of a parent's
delinquency. At length she spoke of the decision which was expected
from her that night.
'And how do you intend to act?' asked her companion in breathless
anxiety. 'I feel that I dare not offer you counsel. I am too deeply
interested; for it would be draining the last drop of earthly bliss
from my cup to see you wedded to any other than to my son.'
'I never will, Mrs Lyddiard,' cried Amy energetically, rising at the
same time from her kneeling position beside the bed of the invalid.
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