"Son of my dearest friend! Dear and precious relic of a noble house!
child of Providence! the beloved of heaven! welcome! thrice welcome to
my arms! to my heart! I will be thy parent from henceforward, and thou
shalt be indeed my child, my heir! My mind told me from the first
moment I
beheld thee, that thou wert the image of my friend! my heart then
opened itself to receive thee, as his offspring. I had a strange
foreboding that I was to be thy protector. I would then have made thee
my own; but heaven orders things for the best; it made thee the
instrument of this discovery, and in its own time and manner conducted
thee to my arms. Praise be to God for his wonderful doings towards the
children of men! every thing that has befallen thee is by his
direction, and he will not leave his work unfinished; I trust that I
shall be his instrument to do justice on the guilty, and to restore the
orphan of my friend to his rights and title. I devote myself to this
service, and will make it the business of my life to effect it."
Edmund gave vent to his emotions, in raptures of joy and gratitude.
They spent several hours in this way, without thinking of the time that
passed; the one enquiring, the other explaining, and repeating, every
particular of the interesting story.
At length they were interrupted by the careful John Wyatt, who was
anxious to know if any thing was likely to give trouble to his master.
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