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第13章 The￡1000000 BankNote（第5页）

Wewereusheredinbythatsameservaheywere，thetwooldgentlemen。Ofcourse，theyweresurprisedtoseethatwonderfulcreaturewithme，butIsaid:

"It&apentlemen;sheismyfuturestayae。"

AndIioher，ahembydidn'tsurprisethem;theykneenoughtosultthedirectory。Theyseatedus，aetome，andverysolicitoustorelieveherfromembarrassment，andputherasmuchathereaseastheyIsaid:

"Gentlemeoreport。"

&quladtohearit，"saidmyman，"fornowwedecidethebetwhichmybrotherAbelandImade。Ifyouhavewonforme，youshallhaveanysituationinmygift。Haveyouthemillion-pou;

"Hereitis，sir，"aohim。

"I'vewoed，andslappedAbelonthebaowwhatdoyousay，brother?""Isayhedidsurvive，andI'velosttwentythousandpounds。Ineverwouldhavebelievedit。"

"What，maeofdepositfor$200，000。Isityours?"

"Mihirtydays'judicioususeofthatlittleloamehave。AndtheonlyuseImadeofitwastobuytriflesahebilli;

"e，thisisastonishing!It'sincredible，man!"

"Nevermind，I'llproveit。Don'ttakemywordu;

Butnoos;sturobesurprised。Hereyeswerespreadwide，andshesaid:

"Henry，isthatreallyyourmoney?Haveyoubeenfibbi;

"Ihave，iyou&apiveme，Iknow。"

&upanardsaid:

"Don'tyoubesosure。Yhtythingtodeceivemeso!"

"Oh，you'llgetoverit，sweetheart，you'llgetoverit;itwasonlyfun，youk'sbegoing。"

"Butwait，wait!Thesituation，youknow。Iwahesituation，"saidmyman。

"Well，"Isaid，"I'mjustasgratefulasIbe，butreallyIdon'twa;

"Butyouhavetheveryygift。"

"Thanksagain，withallmyheart;butIdon'tevenwantthato;

"Henry，I'mashamedofyou。Youdon'thalfthankthegoodgentleman。MayIdoitforyou?""Indeed，youshall，dear，ifyouimproveit。Letusseeyoutry。"

&omyman，gotupinhislap，putherarmroundhisnedkissedhimrightohewooldgeedwithlaughter，butIwasdumfoupetrified，asyoumaysay。Portiasaid:

"Papa，hehassaidyouhaven'tasituatiiftthathe'dtake;aashurtas-"&qu，isthatyourpapa?"

"Yes，he'smystep-papa，aoeverwas。Youuandnoos;tyou，whyIwasabletolaughwhenyoutoldmeattheminister's，notknowiionships，whattroubleandos;sandUncleAbel'sschemewasgivingyou?"

Ofcourse，Isphtupnow，withoutanyfooliraighttothepoint。

"Oh，mydearestdearsir，IwanttotakebackwhatIsaid。YouhavegotasituatioIwant。"

";

"Son-in-law。""ell!Butyouknow，ifyouhaven'teverservedinthatcapacity，you，of'tfurionsofasorttosatisfythesofthetradso-"

"Tryme-oh，do，Ibegofyou!Onlyjusttrymethirtyorfortyyears，andif-"

Happy，wetwo?Therearenhintheuodescribeit。AndwhenLondongotthewholehistory，adayortwolater，ofmymonth'sadvehatbank-note，andhowtheyended，didLondontalk，aime?Yes。

MyPortia'spapatookthatfriendlyandhospitablebillbacktotheBankofEnglandahentheBaandmadehimapresentofit，aousat，andithasalwayshungihesacredestplaeeversigavememyPortia。ButforitIothaveremainedinLondon，wouldnothaveappearedattheminister's，nevershouldhavemether。AndsoIalwayssay，"Yes，it'samillion-pounder，asyousee;butitonepuritslife，aheartilyaboutatenthpartofitsvalue。"