The Hidden Children by Robert William Chambers Chapter 6 Page 36

you yourself saw, there at the Poundridge barracks! And only you among all men saw truly. Why should I not give to you my friendship, unashamed?”

“Give it,” I said, more deeply moved than ever I had been.

“I do! I do! Rightly or wrongly, now, at last, and in the end, I give my honest heart and friendship to a man!” And with a quick and winning gesture she offered me her hand; and I took it firmly in my clasp, and fell a-trembling so I could not find a word to utter.

“Come to me to-night, Euan,” she said. “I lodge yonder. There is a poor widow there — a Mrs. Rannock — who took me in. They killed her husband in November. I am striving to repay her for the food and shelter she affords me.