The Child of Waterloo, or, The Horrors of the Battle-Field — page 38: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE CHILD OF WATERLOO. 35 gered on his lips than that, when the hand of death stopped his utterance.” ‘‘ Husband—husband! do you want to break my heart? I cannot, will not part with her!” | ‘‘Oh, Alige! what would you have me do?” ‘‘ Adopt4ome policy which will enable you to resist every at- tempt to take her from us, until she is over age, then tell her all, and leave her to her own judgment and her own affections.” ‘Ah! there is something in that suggestion.” ‘¢There is, Henry. You see,” added Mrs. Morton, with eager- ness, ‘that by so doing, we insure the happiness, for some years longer, of ourselves, as well as our dear, dear Mabel.” ‘‘She is happy with us.” ‘‘Most happy; she has often wept upon my breast, and blessed us both. Oh, she is very happy with us, indeed.” ‘That comes across my heart like a good reason.” ‘‘It isa good one. 1 knew, Henry, that you would soon see what was right in this matter.” ‘But how would you do it?” ‘‘ Firstly, you must still keep Mabel in ignorance of her real history; and Rafferty alone, of all our household, knows it as well as ourselves.” ‘‘He would not betray us.” ‘‘T know he would not—he is faithfulness itself.” “‘Then we are safe.” ‘ But what shall we say to Mabel ?” “Tell her that we are her nearest and natural protectors. Tell her that many reasons have combined to prevent you from let- ting her know so much before, but that she has no nearer friend than you, although there may be persons who will pretend they are so, and seek to induce her to leave us.” ‘* Alice, I yield. You have overcome me; I yield to you—let it be so; and at once, before I sleep to-night, I will make out a written statement of the whole of the circumstances under which I found her on the field of Waterloo. That shall be pinned to my will, so that should anything happen suddenly to me, it would be found there. When she is over age, and capable of saying of her own free will that she chooses to stay with us, she shall know all.” ‘‘Be it so, Henry, vou have given me new life; be it so.” “Tt shall—it shall.” ‘* And you will be firm. You will see something of this mys- terious man, you may depend, Henry. He will not let the matter rest; you are sure to hear yet something of him, but you must be very firm, indeed—you must be extremely firm.” ““T will—I will. Rafferty shall sign the paper I write out, containing the full particulars of how Mabel came into our hands, and then, although we may be doing a little wrong, I think we may seek for some excuse in the motive.” “Let it beso then. Oh, Henry! if you had not consented, I think I should never have known happiness again.” ‘‘And Heaven can only know how much I love her,” said comicbooks. com