Hatchie, the Guardian Slave; or, The Heiress of Bellevue: A Tale of the Mississippi and the South-westOptic, Oliver
General
Hatchie, the Guardian Slave; or, The Heiress of Bellevue: A Tale of the Mississippi and the South-west
Optic, Oliver
African Americans -- Fiction; Enslaved persons -- United States -- Fiction
"True."
"Was not the reäppearance, the rising from the dead, of this man, quite
enough to convince him that all his plans had failed?"
"Why so?"
"The boy had the will!"
"It is all plain to me," said Emily, more disposed to trust De Guy than
Dr. Vaudelier was.
"Perfectly plain, madam; it is not at all strange that he should adopt
this course. He must trust to his niece's good-nature to save him from
exposure."
"Perhaps this is only a plan to get the lady into his power again,"
suggested Dr. Vaudelier.
"I assure you it is not. He is sorely troubled in mind, even now, at the
guilt which is fastened upon him. His conscience is awakened."
"And well it might be," said the doctor.
"True," responded the silky attorney, with an appearance of honest
indignation; "but when we see a man disposed to repent, we should be
ready to assist him."
Dr. Vaudelier involuntarily turned his thoughts to the incidents of the
morning,--called to mind the feelings which had been awakened in the
presence of his penitent son, and he felt the full force of De Guy's
argument.
"If Mr. Dumont is disposed to repent of the injury he has done his
niece, and make atonement for it, I should, by all means, advise her to
follow the course which, I am sure, her gentle nature suggests. 'To err
is human; to forgive, divine.' The lady is a Christian, and will act in
the true spirit of Christianity."
"I trust she will," responded De Guy, meekly; "I trust she will, and,
with all convenient haste, try to mitigate his distress."
"I will! I will!" exclaimed Emily.
"Perhaps you will accompany me, as your uncle suggests," insinuated De
Guy.
"There is certainly no need of such haste as this," said the doctor.
"Her uncle may change his mind."
"Then his penitence is not sincere, and he cannot be trusted."
"I should scarcely call it penitence, sir, since it is only the fear of
discovery which has driven him to this step," said the attorney,
branching off in to a new school of ethics.
"I can go in a few days," said Emily. "Captain Carroll, you think, is
out of danger now?"
De Guy started, and a scowl of the deepest malignity overshadowed his
countenance, which had before been that of a meek and truthful man. The
change was so sudden that he seemed to be a man within a man, and the
two creatures of an opposite character. Neither the doctor nor Emily
noticed the start, or the sudden change of expression; and the attorney,
seemingly aware of the danger of wearing two faces, restored the former
aspect.
"I think he is entirely out of danger," replied Dr. Vaudelier, in reply
to Emily's question. "Perhaps he will be able to accompany you in a few
days."
Emily blushed, but made no reply, other than a sweet smile, betokening
the happiness such an event would give her.
"I fear, madam, the delay will be dangerous," suggested De Guy, who did
not relish the proposition of the doctor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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