'I feel myself justified in making this resolution. I have been an
unwilling, nay, I may say an unconscious agent in a scheme of
dishonour; but I should be culpable if, by any act of mine, I
furthered it, even though the motive should be to save a parent from
disgrace and a prison. Still, my father claims my duteous regard, and
so long as my personal exertions and self-denial can afford him aid,
I will never desert him.'
'You have spoken nobly, my dear Amy,' Mrs Lyddiard exclaimed, her
eyes brightening, and her pale cheek flushing with pleasure. 'Your
own upright heart is your best adviser, and Heaven will aid your
filial piety.'
As our heroine prudently wished to avoid a meeting with her lover,
she left the house earlier than she otherwise would have done, and
returned home to prepare her mind for the trial which awaited her.
She resolved to decline the baronet's suit respectfully, yet firmly,
alluding with gratitude to the services he had rendered her father;
and she hoped much, notwithstanding the anger he had evinced, from
the natural mildness of his character.
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