The String of Pearls (1850), p. 411

CHAPTER XCII.

MR. OAKLEY'S ANXIETIES MUCH DIMINISH.

For some few moments after this meeting, neither M. Oakley nor Johanna could speak. At length the old spectacle-maker was just able to say—"Great God, I thank thee, that once again I hold my darling to my heart."
"Father—father," said Johanna. "Did you think for one moment that I could have left you? No my dear, no; but I was bewildered by all I heard. I was half mad I think until I was told all; and now we will go home, my pretty darling, at once,
and we will have no secrets from each other. Dear heart, what a pretty boy you make to be sure. But come—come. I am in an agony until I have you home again."
"Father, listen to me."
"Yes my child—my darling. Yes."
"If it had not been for Sir Richard Blunt I should now have been with the dead, and you and I would never have met again, but in another world, father, I owe him, therefore, you will say, some gratitude."
"Some gratitude, my darling? We owe him a world of gratitude. Alas, we shall never be able to repay him, but we will pray that he may be as happy as his noble heart deserves, my dear. God bless him!"
"And, father, we will do any little thing he asks of us."
"We will fly to obey his commands, my dear, in all things. Night or day, he will only have to speak to us, and what he says shall be our law."
"Then, father, he asks of me, for the cause of public justice, that I should go back to Todd's, and wear this dress for the remainder only of to-day. Can we refuse him?"
"Alas! Alas!" said the old man, " more trouble—more anxiety—more danger."
"No, father. No danger. He will watch over me, and I have faith that Heaven is with me."
"Can I part with you again?"
"Yes, for such an object. Do not, father, say no to me, for you may say, and I will obey you; but with your own free consent, let me go now, and do the bidding of the great and the good man who has saved me to once more rest upon your breast, and kiss your cheek."
The old man shook for a moment, and then he said—
"Go, go, my child. Go, and take with you my blessing, and the blessing of God, for surely that must be yours; but, oh! be careful. Remember, my darling, that upon your safety hangs my life; for if I were to hear that anything had happened to you, it would kill me. I have nothing now but you in the world to live for."
"Oh, father, you do not mean to tell me that my mother is no more?"
"No, my dear. No.—Ask me nothing now. You shall know all at another time. Only tell me when I shall see you again."
'"At sunset," said Sir Richard Blunt, as he stepped into the room at this moment. At sunset, I hope, Mr. Oakley; and in the meantime be assured of her perfect safety. I offer my life as security for her's, and would not hesitate to sacrifice it for her."
The manner of the magistrate was such that no one could for one moment doubt that he spoke the genuine sentiments at his heart; and such words, coming from such a quarter, it may be well supposed were calculated to produce a great impression.
"I am satisfied," said Mr. Oakley. "I should be more than an unreasonable man if I were not fully convinced now of the safety of Johanna."
When she had got her father to say this much, Johanna was anxious to be