"
"Name not the fortune, uncle; your peace and happiness are far dearer to
me than all the wealth of the world. You have wronged me, but I freely
forgive you; and Heaven will also forgive you, if you sin no more. O,
uncle, I beseech you dismiss this evil man, and let me be to you as a
daughter!"
"Let us attend to business, if you please, Mr. Dumont," said the
attorney, in a whining tone; for, it must be confessed, the conversation
had assumed a different turn from what he had anticipated.
"I must state the business for which I requested your presence," said
Jaspar, not a little moved by the words of Emily. Human nature is a
strange compound of inconsistencies. This man, whose life had been
stained with crime, was now disposed to regard the past with contrition.
We have seen him scorning even an allusion to the higher life of the
soul,--but success was then within the reach of his crime-stained hand!
Now, failure on every hand awaited him, and all those bravadoes with
which he had kept down his better nature deserted him. Not one scornful
thought came to banish the good angel from his presence.
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