"I was rendered speechless by these words. I attempted to make answer; but my tongue clove to the roof of my mouth--my throat grew dry and hot--my brain was dizzy, and the room swam round me. I thought of the name which I had been striving for years to build up--the honourable name which I had gained--the height from which I was about to fall--the yawning gulf below--a thousand painful thoughts rushed in one instant to my mind, and overcame me. I should have fallen to the earth, had not my heart found in my eyes a passage for its grief, and rendered me weaker than a child before a creature who had never felt the luxury of one human tear. I wept aloud and fearfully. "'Guilt, guilt, palpable guilt!' exclaimed my uncle. 'None but the guilty weep. You do not take me by surprise, young man. I was prepared for this--I have but a word to say. Restore this money, or undertake to pay it back to me--to the last farthing of my lawful claim. Do this, and I forgive you, and forget your indiscretion. Refuse, and to-morrow you are a bankrupt and a beggar. Leave me, and take time for your decision. Come to me again this evening. If you fail--_you_ may expect a visit in the morning.' "This was said deliberately, but in a tone most expressive of sincerity. I staggered from his presence, and hurried homeward. A sickening sensation checked me as I approached my door. I could not enter it. I rushed away; and in the open fields, where I could weep and rave unnoticed and alone, I cursed my fate, and entreated heaven to smite me with its thunders. My mind was tottering. Hours passed before I reached the house again, how, when, or by what means I arrived there, I could not tell. The servant girl who gave me admittance looked savagely upon me, as I thought. It was sorrow, and not anger, that was written in her face; but how could I discriminate? Her mistress was seriously ill. She had been alarmed by the visit of a gentleman, who waited for me in the parlour, and by my protracted absence; and her agitation had brought on the pangs of labour. A physician was now with her. Who was this gentleman? I entered the room, and there the fiend sate, white with irritation and gnawing disappointment. I started back, but he advanced to me--held my papers to my face, and pointed to one portion of them with a finger that was alive with rage and agitation. "'Is it true?' asked my uncle, gnashing his teeth. 'Answer me--yes or no?--one word, is it true?' "'It is a lie!' I answered, ignorant of his meaning, and half crazed with the excitement. 'I am innocent--innocent--Heaven knows I am.' "'Have you, or have you not given to Gilbert, for these heavy sums, a power of attorney? Has he got it? Answer me in a word.' "'He advanced me money,' I replied, 'and I gave him such documents as he required.' "'Enough!' said my uncle. 'You are a beggar!'--and without another word he left me.