Page:The Mysterious Warning - Parsons (1796, volume 4).djvu/253

 from the seduction of innocence, and be himself the guardian of that honour, on which depends the happiness or misery of those unborn!"

"The Count most readily subscribed to the truth of those observations, but to change the immediate subject that distressed him, he congratulated himself on the connexion he claimed with little Charles.

"When you marry (said he) I claim him as my companion, nor must you deny me; Mr. Dunloff shall reside with him; we shall, I trust, often enjoy each other's society, and you will judge whether I perform my duty or not."—Ferdinand could not, without wounding the feelings of his friend, refuse a request so generous and affectionate; he therefore accepted it in the warmest terms of acknowledgment: "He shall have two fathers (said he) and hold a divided affection that will gratify us both."

"It is time now (added he) that I should perform a duty that both affection and grati-