“Ah, my child!” he replied, “you know not the devising power of this man. He has an agent here in this place, in the shape of old Crisp, the hunchback. It has been his plan, under promise of marriage, to decoy you from this house; he would probably have left his child to Crisp’s good agency, with orders to join you. Herbert loves you, and would have gone willingly in your company, but alone with Richard he would not have moved one step. Once out of my reach in some distant city, he would have had the reins in his own hand. It was by an unexpected, but I hope fortunate chance, that I overheard a conversation to this effect between him and the deformed servant. I could not ascertain the day set for this adventure, but I surmised that it was at no remote date, and I have kept alert. You have avoided me, Miss Reef, and I have been obliged to watch your movements distantly. Not from suspicion of you, for I know you to be pure and honorable, but because you are under my protection, and because”--he hesitated--I wondered what was coming next. I had a presentiment that he was about to make an avowal which I ought to shun, but before I could evade him he turned suddenly toward me, his face white with emotion, and continued--“I love you, Agnes, though it is no time now to speak of my passion, and have watched over you as a father, a brother, a _lover_ would watch.” This announcement affected me more than I care to confess, considering I did not return his love, but it was the allusion to his sheltering care that moved me. “Yes, I have watched over you; orphan that you are, you need some guardian care. I knew by your frequent journeys to the village, by your cloistering in your own apartment, and more than all, by your speaking countenance, that you were preparing for some great event in your life. “Last night I could not sleep; I laid my head upon my pillow, but finding it impossible to close my eyes I arose and dressed. Sitting by my window I thought I heard a commotion in your room. I listened until my surmises grew into certainty. The hour was midnight, and your door, which at that season is usually closed like a cloister-gate, swung on its hinges. “This alarmed me; I unlocked my door and looked out. Soon a hasty step retreating from your chamber met my ear. Descending the stairs, this untimely visitor entered the room where Herbert lay sleeping. A strange suspicion came over me. Can the intruder be Richard? I thought. If so, what was he doing at that hour of the night? I seized a lighted candle and rushed to the boy’s apartment, and there I found Richard, maddened, and beside himself with liquor and frenzy. I was just in time to save Herbert’s life from his insane fury.