Meanwhile, be satisfied, sir, that you are in the kindest hands. This
gentleman," added he, (pointing to his friend, who bore the noble
presence of high rank,) "saw you on the heath, and brought you to his
house, where you now are."
Thaddeus bowed his head to them both in sign of obedience and
gratitude, and the elder, with a kind bend of his mild eyes, in
silence left the room.
CHAPTER XLV.
DEERHURST.
Next morning, when the seal was taken off the lips of the object of
their care, he expressed in grateful terms his deep sense of the
humanity which had actuated both the gentleman to take so generous an
interest in his fate.
"You owe no thanks to me," replied the one who had enjoined and
released him from silence, and who was now alone with him; "I am only
the agent of another. Yet I do not deny that, in obeying the
benevolent orders of Sir Robert Somerset, I have frequent
opportunities of gratifying my own heart."
Thaddeus was so confounded at this discovery that he could not speak,
and the gentleman proceeded.
"I am apothecary to Sir Robert's household, and as my excellent
employer has been long afflicted with an ill state of health, I live
in a small Lodge at the other end of the park. He is the boast of the
county: the best landlord and the kindest neighbor. All ranks of
people love him; and when he dies, (which his late apoplectic fits
make it too probable may be soon,) both poor and rich will lose their
friend.
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