Before, he had been one of the most popular men in this part of the
country, but now he shut himself up, gave up all his acquaintances, and
never went outside the park gates except to come down to church. I
remember it gave us quite a shock when we saw him for the first
time--he seemed to have grown an old man all at once. Everyone said
that the death of his son had broken his heart.
"And Aggie is his granddaughter! Well, well, you have astonished me.
But why did you not tell me before?"
"There were a good many reasons, ma'am. I thought, in the first place,
you might refuse me, if you knew, for it might do you harm. The squire
is a vindictive man, and he is landlord of your house; and if he came
to know that you had knowingly taken in his granddaughter, there was no
saying how he might have viewed it. Then, if you had known it, you
might have thought you ought to keep her in, and not let her run about
the country with your son; and altogether, it would not have been so
comfortable for you or her. I chose to put her at Sidmouth because I
wanted to come here often, to hear how the squire was going on; for if
he had been taken ill I should have told him sooner than I intended."
"But why did you not tell him before?" Mrs.
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