Her eyes are like
my wife's. Yes, she's a good girl. It seems a hard thing that I should
have lived all these years without knowing her; lived alone, with no one
about me but those that were on the watch for my money, and eager to
cheat me at every turn. My life might have been happier if I'd had a
grandchild to keep me company, and I might have left this place and lived
like a gentleman for her sake. But that's all past and gone. You'll be
rich when I'm dead, Marian; yes, what most people would count rich. You
won't squander the money, will you, my dear, as your father would, if it
were left to him?"
"No, grandfather. But tell me about my father. Is he still living?" the
girl asked eagerly.
"Never mind him, child," answered Jacob Nowell. "He hasn't troubled
himself about you, and you can't do better than keep clear of him. No
good ever came of anything he did yet, and no good ever will come. Don't
you have anything to do with him, Marian. He'll try to get all your money
away from you, if you give him a chance--depend upon that."
"He is living, then? O, my dear grandfather, do tell me something more
about him. Remember that whatever his errors may have been, he is my
father--the only relation I have in the world except yourself."
"His whole life has been one long error," answered Jacob Nowell.
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