He had not only given her
freedom, but had provided for her conveyance beyond the pale of slavery.
With these intentions, if she were in reality a slave, Mr. Faxon could
find no fault. They were liberal in the extreme. But why had he, at this
late period, mentioned the stain upon her birth? Why not let her live as
he had educated her? These queries were so easily answered that the good
clergyman could not condemn the dead on account of them. If the
daughter, then she was the heiress; if not, legitimately, it would be
injustice to the brother.
Mr. Faxon reasoned in this manner. He could not believe, even with all
the evidence before him. There was a reasonable answer, apparently, to
every objection he could think of, and he resolved to apply to Jaspar
and Hatchie for more information. All that Jaspar could say, or would
say, in answer to his interrogatories, was that his brother's wife had
died in giving birth to a dead child; and that Emily, who was the child
of a house-servant by him, had so engaged his attention by her singular
beauty that he had substituted her for his own child.
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