"
"Your wishes, my father?" said Patience.
"Yes--my wishes; there is nothing that I so ardently desired as a
union between you and Edward; but I wished you to love him for his own
merits."
"I have done so, father," replied Patience, sobbing again, "although I
did not tell him so."
The intendant remained silent for some time, and then said,
"There is no cause for further concealment, Patience; I have only to
regret that I was not more explicit sooner. I have long suspected, and
have since been satisfied, that Edward Armitage is Edward Beverley,
who with his brothers and sisters were supposed to have been burned to
death at Arnwood."
Patience removed her handkerchief from her face, and looked at her
father with astonishment.
"I tell you that I had a strong suspicion of it, my dear child, first,
from the noble appearance, which no forest garb could disguise; but
what gave me further conviction was, that when at Lymington I happened
to fall in with one Benjamin, who had been a servant at Arnwood, and
interrogated him closely. He really believed that the children were
burned; it is true that I asked him particularly relative to the
appearance of the children--how many were boys, and how many were
girls, their ages, &c.
Pages:
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451