"
"That's nonsense. There is always something to say."
"You have ruined me, mamma; just ruined me."
"I did for you the very best I could. If you would have been
advised by me, instead of being ruined, you would have had a
handsome fortune. I have slaved for you for the last twelve years.
No mother ever sacrificed herself for her child more than I have
done for you, and now see the return I get. I sometimes think that
it will kill me."
"That's nonsense."
"Everything I say is nonsense,--while you tell me one day that you
are going to hang yourself, and another day that you will drown
yourself."
"So I would if I dared. What is it that you have brought me to? Who
will have me in their houses when they hear that you consented to
take Lord Rufford's money?"
"Nobody will hear it unless you tell them."
"I shall tell my uncle and my aunt and Mistletoe, in order that
they may know how it is that Lord Rufford has been allowed to
escape. I say that you have ruined me. If it had not been for your
vulgar bargain with him, he must have been brought to keep his word
at last. Oh, that he should have ever thought it was possible that
I was to be bought off for a sum of money!"
Later on in the evening the mother again implored her daughter to
speak to her. "What's the use, mamma, when you know what we think
of each other.
Pages:
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639