"
Thus sternly did the colonel unveil to the eyes of Ralph Colleton a
portion of the family picture which he had never been permitted to
survey before.
Cold drops stood on the brow of the now nerveless and unhappy youth. He
was pale, and his eyes were fixed for an instant; but, suddenly
recovering himself, he rushed hastily from the apartment before his
uncle could interpose to prevent him. He heard not or heeded not the
words of entreaty which called him back; but, proceeding at once to his
chamber, he carefully fastened the entrance, and, throwing himself upon
his couch, found relief from the deep mental agony thus suddenly forced
upon him, in a flood of tears.
For the first time in his life, deriving his feeling in this particular
rather from the opinions of society than from any individual
consciousness of debasement, he felt a sentiment of humiliation working
in his breast. His mother he had little known, but his father's precepts
and familiar conversation had impressed upon him, from his childhood, a
feeling for her of the deepest and most unqualified regard.
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