Of course Helen could not refuse him;
there must be many thoughts coming into his mind which he would wish to
share with her who had known his daughter so long and been with filer in
her last days.
She returned into the great parlor with the wrought cornices and the
medallion-portraits on the ceiling.
"I am now alone in the world," Dudley Veneer said.
Helen must have known that before he spoke. But the tone in which he
said it had so much meaning, that she could not find a word to answer him
with. They sat in silence, which the old tall clock counted out in long
seconds; but it was silence which meant more than any words they had ever
spoken.
"Alone in the world. Helen, the freshness of my life is gone, and there
is little left of the few graces which in my younger days might have
fitted me to win the love of women. Listen to me,--kindly, if you can;
forgive me, at least. Half my life has been passed in constant fear and
anguish, without any near friend to share my trials. My task is done
now; my fears have ceased to prey upon me; the sharpness of early sorrows
has yielded something of its edge to time.
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