Читать книгу Charles Peace, or The Adventures of a Notorious Burglar онлайн

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“Considerations!” he exclaimed. “Possibly you allude to my position in life.”

“Oh, dear me, no—​not for a moment.”

“Pray explain. Let me know the worst,” he ejaculated, in evident trepidation.

“In the first place,” answered the widow, “I must inform you that Aveline is not my daughter.”

“Not your daughter, Mrs. Maitland! Impossible!”

“No, but I am quite as fond of her as if she were my own child, but she is not, and I think it but right and proper that you should be put in possession of all the facts. She is not my daughter.”

“Whose daughter is she then?”

“That I cannot tell you. I have adopted her, and brought her up from infancy.”

“I am indeed surprised.”

“That is no more than I expected. Listen! You are perhaps not aware that I was at one time matron to the Derby Infirmary. It was while acting in this capacity that I first met with Aveline, who was then between two and three years old.

“There had been a collision on the line. Many persons were seriously injured, while some were picked out of the carriages dead.