I
speak of him as he is now known to me. Oh, beware of him! Let not
his shadow fall darker on our household."
The effect of this conversation in no way quieted the apprehensions
of Mr. Markland, but made his anxieties the deeper. That Lyon had
been false to his child was clear even to him; and the searching
questions of Fanny he could not banish from his thoughts.
"All things confirm the necessity of my journey," he said, when
alone, and in close debate with himself on the subject. "I fear that
I am in the toils of a serpent, and that escape, even with life, is
doubtful. By what a strange infatuation I have been governed! Alas!
into what a fearful jeopardy have I brought the tangible good things
given me by a kind Providence, by grasping at what dazzled my eyes
as of supremely greater value! Have I not been lured by a shadow,
forgetful of the substance in possession?"
CHAPTER XXXI.
"I SHOULD have been contented amid so much beauty, and with even
more than my share of earthly blessings.
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