its object be?' asked the lawyer of his daughter.' Surely, if Mrs
Hardman require any legal business to be transacted, I am the proper
person to accomplish it.' Catherine was equally ignorant, and the
mistress of Coote-down was evidently not inclined to enlighten her.

The journey was commenced. 'I shall return in a fortnight,' said Mrs
Hardman. 'Should anything occur requiring my presence earlier, pray
ride or send off for me.' These were her parting words. They did not
surprise Catherine, for well she knew that an irrepressible
presentiment kept possession of the mother's mind that the lost son
would one day return. There was not a morning that she rose from her
pillow, but the expectation of seeing her son before sunset existed
in her mind.

Mrs Hardman had been away a week. Catherine had removed to her
father's house, and was preparing to sit down to sew, as was her
custom, when her father, returning from the office adjoining, brought
her a letter. 'It is very odd,' he remarked, 'but amidst my business
communications I find this epistle addressed to you. See, it is
marked "sailor's letter." I imagine it must be intended for one of
the servants.'

Catherine made no reply; a presentiment darted into her mind. Usually
a quiet, calm girl, her nature seemed suddenly to have changed. She
snatched the letter from her father's hand, tore it open, looked at
the signature, and fell into his arms in an agony of emotion.
Absorbed by her painful struggles, Dodbury overlooked the cause of
them; and Catherine, with one intense, overwhelming thought burning
within her, placed the letter before him. She tried to speak, but the
agony of joy which she felt choked her. The father read the