Page:Henry Northcote (IA henrynorthcote00snairich).pdf/235

 "Yes, sir."

"And it was the fact that that promise had not been kept which led directly, in the first instance, to the ruin of this young girl?"

"Yes, sir."

"And Mr. Barron having accomplished her ruin, fled from the house of his parents to London, to escape his duty?"

"Yes, sir."

"And this girl, dismissed from her situation, disgraced in the eyes of her friends, followed in her despair to this huge city, in the slender hope of finding the man who had ruined her?"

"Yes, sir."

"Yet for many years she was unable to find him?"

"Yes, sir."

"And during those years of inexpressible bitterness, in her ignorance of life, her helplessness, her friendlessness, in the abasement of her spirit, she sank deeper and deeper into degradation?"

"Yes, sir."

"The pure-blooded north country girl became a harlot by the force of circumstances?"

"Yes, sir."

"And then after many years of misery one evening at a music hall, in the pursuit of her calling, she chanced to meet the man who had been the first cause of her ruin?"

"Yes, sir."

"And when he renewed a proposal that he had made years before, which as a young girl she had scornfully repudiated, that she should dwell in his house, not as his wife, but as his mistress, the pres