"
"Papa," said Maria, throwing her arms about his neck and bursting into
tears, "when you go I shall go; and wherever you may go to, I shall
accompany you."
"Father," said Charles, in a choking voice, and grasping his hand as he
spoke, "if you leave this house you shall not go alone. Neither I nor
Maria shall separate ourselves from you. We will have enough to live on
with comfort and decency."
"Mother," said Harry, rising up and approaching her with a face of
significant severity; "mother, you have forced me to say--and heaven
knows the pain with which I say it--that I am ashamed of you. Why will
you use language that is calculated to alienate from me the affections
of a brother and sister whom I love with so much tenderness? I trust
you understand me when I tell you now that I identify myself with their
feelings and objects, and that no sordid expectation of your property
shall ever induce me to take up your quarrel or separate myself from
them. Dispose of your property as you wish; I for one shall not earn it
by sacrificing the best affections of the heart, nor by becoming a slave
to such a violent and indefensible temper as yours.
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