"Come, come; no more of this. We have had romance enough for one day," said the old gentleman. "I have been annoyed by letters from Farringford in St. Louis, hinting at something of this kind." "I am sorry the letters annoyed you, sir; but my father wrote only the truth," I replied. "Your father! Do you mean to assert that my miserable son-in-law is your father?" added the old gentleman, savagely. "I do, sir." "But my daughter is not your mother?" "Yes, sir; she is." "That's enough. I don't want to hear another word about the matter; and what's more, I will not." "We can prove all that we assert, sir," I replied, firmly. "Not another word about it. I want to believe that you are an honest and honorable young man; but I can't do it if you attempt to maintain such a gross imposture. It is ridiculous." "I am very anxious that you should hear the story, sir. If you are not satisfied with the evidence, you shall never be annoyed again concerning it." "I won't hear it," protested the senior Mr. Collingsby. "Did you come here, and get a place in our firm, for the purpose of pushing this imposition?" "I desire to establish my birthright; but there was no conspiracy about my coming." "My son-in-law is a miserable toper. I never want to see or hear from him again. He has brought disgrace and misery enough into my family. He teased me for money till I was obliged to leave St. Louis, and now he follows me here. Young man, whatever your name may be, I have a high regard for you after what you have done, and we will use you well in the future; but never mention this matter again. If you do, you shall leave us. I say it, and I mean it." Under the circumstances I could say no more. The time for proving my claim evidently had not come. I made no promises in regard to the forbidden topic; but I decided to wait for a more favorable opportunity to press the subject. I was invited to breakfast with the family, and accepted. I was vexed and mortified to find that I was not acknowledged as a nephew, grandson, and cousin; but I found that I had one believer in Marian. I had convinced her with my unsupported word; but I intended to show her the evidence. After breakfast I went to my boarding-house, and repaired at once to Mrs. Whippleton's room. She was better than when I had left her, three days before, and was able to open upon me in a volley of reproaches for my treachery and dishonesty, as she bluntly called them. "I thought there wan't but one honest feller in the world, and I was cheated in him," said she, bitterly. "Not exactly, Mrs. Whippleton," I replied, handing her the sealed package. "There are your papers and your money." "No; you don't say it!" "Open it, and see." It took an hour for her to count the money and examine the papers. She compared them with the receipt I had given her, and nothing was missing.