"And
oh, father, as you were the son of a true and faithful mother, be a
father to me now! Jeer not your motherless child, but protect her
and help her."
Hugh Sorel was touched by this appeal, and he likewise recollected
how much it was for his own interest that his brother should be
satisfied with the care he took of his daughter. He became convinced
that the sooner she was out of the castle the better, and at length
bethought him that, among the merchants who frequented the Midsummer
Fair at the Blessed Friedmund's Wake, a safe escort might be found to
convey her back to Ulm.
If the truth were known, Hugh Sorel was not devoid of a certain
feeling akin to contempt, both for his young master's taste, and for
his forbearance in not having pushed matters further with a being so
helpless, meek, and timid as Christina, more especially as such
slackness had not been his wont in other cases where his fancy had
been caught.
But Sorel did not understand that it was not physical beauty that
here had been the attraction, though to some persons, the sweet,
pensive eyes, the delicate, pure skin, the slight, tender form, might
seem to exceed in loveliness the fully developed animal comeliness
chiefly esteemed at Adlerstein.
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