"Not let Ford Bank! Why? I don't understand it--I can't have been
clear--Ellinor, the rent of this house is all you will have to live on!"
"I can't help it, I can't leave this house. Oh, Mr. Ness, I can't leave
this house."
"My dear child, you shall not be hurried--I know how hardly all these
things are coming upon you (and I wish I had never seen Corbet, with all
my heart I do!)"--this was almost to himself, but she must have heard it,
for she quivered all over--"but leave this house you must. You must eat,
and the rent of this house must pay for your food; you must dress, and
there is nothing but the rent to clothe you. I will gladly have you to
stay at the Parsonage as long as ever you like; but, in fact, the
negotiations with Mr. Osbaldistone, the gentleman who offers to take the
house, are nearly completed--"
"It is my house!" said Ellinor, fiercely. "I know it is settled on me."
"No, my dear. It is held in trust for you by Sir Frank Holster and Mr.
Johnson; you to receive all moneys and benefits accruing from it"--he
spoke gently, for he almost thought her head was turned--"but you
remember you are not of age, and Mr. Johnson and I have full power."
Ellinor sat down, helpless.
"Leave me," she said, at length. "You are very kind, but you don't know
all. I cannot stand any more talking now," she added, faintly.
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