But her very effort
to be quiet made her tremble.
"That is not the principal thing we know about him," she said; and
there was a touch of her tremor in her voice. "There are other
things--many other things. He has very high abilities--he wants so
much to do something. He is kind, and generous, and true," said poor
Catherine, who had not suspected hitherto the resources of her
eloquence. "And his fortune--his fortune that he spent--was very
small!"
"All the more reason he shouldn't have spent it," cried the Doctor,
getting up, with a laugh. Then as Catherine, who had also risen to
her feet again, stood there in her rather angular earnestness,
wishing so much and expressing so little, he drew her towards him and
kissed her. "You won't think me cruel?" he said, holding her a
moment.
This question was not reassuring; it seemed to Catherine, on the
contrary, to suggest possibilities which made her feel sick. But she
answered coherently enough--"No, dear father; because if you knew how
I feel--and you must know, you know everything--you would be so kind,
so gentle."
"Yes, I think I know how you feel," the Doctor said. "I will be very
kind--be sure of that. And I will see Mr. Townsend to-morrow.
Meanwhile, and for the present, be so good as to mention to no one
that you are engaged."
CHAPTER XII
On the morrow, in the afternoon, he stayed at home, awaiting Mr.
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