reflection, he excused himself by blaming him. At length he read to the close. His own—Beatrice's child in England! To her, at least, he would make ample reparation; and without waiting to think over the subject, he hastily locked the papers in a drawer of the cabinet, and hurried to Lawrence Aylmer's.
Even exaggerating, if that be possible, the difficulties of a young female left, without relation or friend, to her own resources, he was impatient to extend his protection to the hitherto orphan. It was fortunate for him that reparation took such an easy form. It cannot be denied that there are some persons whose faults are more severely punished than other persons' crimes: how much heavier had been Beatrice's portion! But Lord Avonleigh, after the first shock, put the worst part of the business aside, letting pity for the luckless Italian assume its most soothing form. He dwelt principally on Arden's shameful conduct, and his own intended kindness to Francesca; and by the time he arrived at the farm-house, he had also arrived at the conclusion that he had been only a singularly ill-used person, and was sufficiently recovered to wonder if his daughter was presentable and handsome. "If she is but pretty we shall manage. Albert can very well spare a sister's
