"I have promised," said he, "that I
will send for you as soon as you can serve the King or yourself. You
have mentioned your mother--resemble her in this; she never attempted to
shake my settled purposes, but conformed to the opinion which she
doubted not was founded on full deliberation. As a boy, you are all I
wish; but there must be much improvement to realise a fond father's
hopes of you as a man. Employ the years of probation wisely. Submit to
your excellent uncle as to the representative of both your parents; form
yourself by his instructions, and when you are called into action I
shall glory in you."
"But you have named years of probation; must I for years be confined to
Ribblesdale? Will no zeal, no diligence on my part shorten this period,
and enable me to rejoin you?"
"In these disturbed times," said the Colonel, "we can form no guesses of
the future. When we shall meet, or whether ever more in this world, are
chances on which I cannot calculate. Bear in mind this parting
interview; and if you sometimes, in your heart, accuse me of harshness,
soften your opposition to my will by reflecting, that I may have motives
for my determination which cannot now be disclosed to you, and that a
dutiful obedience will render you worthy the entire confidence of one
who has seen too much of man to confide in mere professions of desert
and ability.
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