"
"But," said Fritz, "even admitting that the friendship between the two
families continued uninterrupted, and that the father of Cecilia was
willing to share his property with the father of Herbert, still the
young man, in the parlance of society, was a beggar; and it is always
hard for a man to owe his position to a woman, and to become, as it
were, the _protege_ of her whom he ought rather to protect."
"If that is the view you take, Master Fritz, then I agree with you
that the misfortune was deplorable," said Mary, bending at the same
time to hide her blushes, under pretence of mending a broken thread.
"And what if Cecilia's father had been ruined instead of Herbert's?"
inquired Jack.
"I should say," replied Sophia, "that we have as much right to be
proud and dignified as you have."
"The best way in such a case," observed Willis, laughing, "would be
for both parties to get ruined together."
"Herbert," continued Wolston, "was a youth of resolution and energy.
He entertained the same opinion as Fritz; and instead of wasting his
time in idle despondency, got together some articles of merchandise,
and sailed for the Indian Archipelago, promising his friends that he
would return to his native land in two years."
"Two years is a long time," remarked Mary; "but sometimes it passes
away very quickly.
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