the last subject on which he would have granted an interview to his young
kinsman. Lionel, however; was not perhaps sorry to be thus compelled to
trust to writing his own and Sophy's cause. Darrell was one of those men
whose presence inspires a certain awe--one of those men whom we feel,
upon great occasions, less embarrassed to address by letter than in
person. Lionel's pen moved rapidly--his whole heart and soul suffused
with feeling--; and, rushing over the page, he reminded Darrell of the
day when he had told to the rich man the tale of the lovely wandering
child, and how, out of his sympathy for that child, Darrell's approving,
fostering tenderness to himself had grown. Thus indirectly to her
forlorn condition had he owed the rise in his own fortunes. He went
through the story of William Losely as he had gathered it from Alban
Morley, and touched pathetically on his own father's share in that dark
history. If William Losely really was hurried into crime by the tempting
necessity for a comparatively trifling sum, but for Charles Haughton
would the necessity have arisen? Eloquently then the lover united
grandfather and grandchild in one touching picture--their love for each
other, their dependence on each other. He enlarged on Sophy's charming,
unselfish, simple, noble character; he told how he had again found her;
he dwelt on the refining accomplishments she owed to Lady Montfort's
care. How came she with Lady Montfort? Why had Lady Montfort cherished,
adopted her? Because Lady Montfort told him how much her own childhood
had owed to Darrell; because, should Sophy be, as alleged, the offspring
of his daughter, the heiress of his line, Caroline Montfort rejoiced to
guard her from danger, save her from poverty, and ultimately thus to fit
her to be not only acknowledged with delight, but with pride. Why had he
been enjoined not to divulge to Darrell that he had again found, and
under Lady Montfort's roof, the child whom, while yet unconscious of her
claims, Darrell himself had vainly sought to find, and benevolently
designed to succour? Because Lady Montfort wished to fulfil her task-