He was
sitting thus when the door was opened, and a servant announced--
"Miss Milford!"
Sir Oswald rose from his chair, and beheld an elegant young lady, who
approached him with a graceful timidity of manner. She was simply
dressed in gray merino, a black silk mantle, and a straw bonnet,
trimmed with white ribbon. Nothing could have been more Quaker-like
than the simplicity of this costume, and yet there was an elegance
about the wearer which the baronet had seldom seen surpassed.
He rose to welcome her.
"You have just arrived in town?" he said.
"Yes, Sir Oswald; a hackney-coach brought me here from the coach-
office."
"I am very glad to see you," said the baronet, holding out his hand,
which Honoria Milford touched lightly with her own neatly gloved
fingers; "and I am happy to tell you that I have secured you a home
which I think you will like."
"Oh, Sir Oswald, you are only too good to me. I shall never know how to
thank you."
"Then do not thank me at all. Believe me, I desire no thanks. I have
done nothing worthy of gratitude. An influence stronger than my own
will has drawn me towards you; and in doing what I can to befriend you,
I am only giving way to an impulse which I am powerless to resist."
The girl looked at her benefactor with a bewildered expression, and Sir
Oswald interpreted the look.
"Yes," he said, "you may well be astonished by what I tell you.
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