I only wish I was better prepared for the change which I know
I shall soon be forced to make. Yet I feel, Lucy, as if I never loved
you until now--I feel how dear you are to me now that I know I must part
with you so soon."
Lucy was utterly incapable of resisting this tenderness, as the
unsuspecting girl believed it to be. She again threw her arms around
him, and wept as if her very heart would break.
"This agitation, my darling," he added, "is too much for us both. My
head is easily disturbed; but--but--send for Lucy," he exclaimed, as if
touched by a passing delirium, "send for my daughter. I must have Lucy.
I have been harsh to her, and I cannot die without her forgiveness."
"Here, papa--dearest papa! Recollect yourself; Lucy is with you; not to
forgive you for anything, but to ask; to implore to be forgiven."
"Ha!" he said, raising his head a little, and looking round like a man
awakening from sleep. "I fear I am beginning to wander. Dear Lucy--yes,
it is you. Oh, I recollect. Withdraw, my darling; the sight of you--the
joy of your very appearance--eh--eh--yes, let me see.
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