"Ye'll min'," he added, as she was leaving the shop, "that I hae to pay
ye no interest noo excep' upo' fifty poun'?"
He had paid her nothing for the last half year at least.
He would not have dared to fleece the girl thus, had she had any
legally constituted guardians; or had those who would gladly have
interfered, had power to protect her. But he took care so to word the
quittance, that in the event of any thing going wrong, he might yet
claim his hundred pounds from Mrs Forbes.
Annie read over the receipt, and saw that she had involved herself in a
difficulty. How would Mrs Forbes take it? She begged Bruce not to tell
her, and he was ready enough to consent. He did more. He wrote to Mrs
Forbes to the effect that, upon reflection, he had resolved to drop
further proceedings for the present; and when she carried him a
half-year's interest, he took it in silence, justifying himself on the
ground that the whole transaction was of doubtful success, and he must
therefore secure what he could secure.
As may well be supposed, Annie had very little money to give away now;
and this subjected her to a quite new sense of suffering.
CHAPTER XC.
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