"
"Let us look this matter directly in the face, Edward," said Mrs.
Markland, in a sober voice. "Suppose he ask for the hand of our
daughter."
"A thing not at all unlikely to happen," answered her husband.
"What then?"
"I fear you are prejudiced against Mr. Lyon," said Markland, a
little coldly.
"I love my child!" was the simple, touching answer.
"Well?"
"I am a woman," she further said, "and know the wants of a woman's
heart. I am a wife, and have been too tenderly loved and cared for,
not to desire a like happy condition for my child." And she leaned
against her husband, and gazed into his face with a countenance full
of thankful love.
"Mr. Lyon is a man of honour," said Mr. Markland. "Has he a tender,
loving heart? Can he appreciate a woman?"
"If Fanny loves him--"
"Oh, Edward! Edward!" returned his wife, interrupting him. "She is
only a child, and yet incapable of genuine love. The bewildering
passion this man has inspired in her heart is born of impulse, and
the fires that feed it are consuming her.
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