Take your parting, and try to forget old
times, my good fellow. I think well of, and am sorry for you, Mark, but
I can do nothing. The girl is my only child, and I must keep her from
harm if I can."
Mark battled the point with considerable warmth and vigor, and the scene
was something further protracted, but need not here be prolonged. The
father was obdurate, and too much dreaded by the members of his family
to admit of much prayer or pleading on their part. Apart from this, his
reason, though a stern, was a wise and strong one. The intercession of
Colleton, warmly made, proved equally unavailing; and after a brief but
painful parting with the maiden, Forrester remounted his horse, and, in
company with the youth, departed for the village. But the adieus of the
lovers, in this instance, were not destined to be the last. In the
narrow passage, in which, removed from all sight and scrutiny, she hung
droopingly, like a storm-beaten flower, upon his bosom, he solicited,
and not unsuccessfully, a private and a parting interview.
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