I went down, and found waiting on the door-steps a very
respectable-looking, middle-aged man, whom I had certainly never set
eyes on before in my life.
"I told him that I was Joshua's sister, and that I managed my brother's
affairs for him in the present state of his health. The stranger only
answered, that he was very anxious to see Joshua himself. I did not
choose to expose the helpless condition into which my brother's
intellects had fallen, to a person of whom I knew nothing; so I merely
said, the interview he wanted was out of the question, but that if he
had any business with Mr. Grice, he might, for the reasons I had
already given, mention it to me. He hesitated, and smiled, and said he
was very much obliged to me; and then, making as if he was going to
step in, added that I should probably be able to appreciate the
friendly nature of the business on which he came, when he informed me
that he was confidentially employed by Mr. Arthur Carr.
"The instant he spoke it, I felt the name go to my heart like a
knife--then my indignation got the better of me. I told him to tell Mr.
Carr that the miserable creature whom his villainy had destroyed, had
fled away from her home, had died away from her home, and was buried
away from her home; and, with that, I shut the door in his face.
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