"When these lines, my beloved Henry, reach your hands, time will
have left only a tender remembrance of the name of father! Yet I
trust the affection you evinced for him in life, will make you
regard this his last (though secret) request, and advice.
"Too oft have you heard the relation of my early misfortunes, to
need a repetition here; but prepare, my Harry, for a tale you
little expect, and which reached my knowledge a few months after my
marriage.
"Some years prior to that event, your mother bestowed her
affections on Mallet, her father's steward; who, at last, asked her
of his master in marriage; but Mr. Holly refused him with the
proudest disdain, and threatened to dismiss him, if he ever again
renewed the subject. Miss Holly proved more favourable to his
addresses, and at the time Sir Horace demanded her as a wife for
me, was in a state advancing to become a mother!"
"Just Powers!" exclaimed Mr. Talton. "Do I hear aright? or can I credit
the assertion?"
"My father's veracity, Sir," faltered Sir Henry, "is not to be doubted;
even if my mother's subsequent conduct had not confirmed the
circumstance as true."
"Proceed--proceed, dear Henry!" cried the agitated Louise. Sir Henry
resumed the relation of his father.
"Alarmed at a circumstance which must inevitably have exposed her
shame, she fled for protection to her aunt, and by a well-feigned
tale, not only induced that lady to receive her; but to promise
secrecy respecting her state, and the place of her retreat: whilst
Mallet, dreading a discovery of their illicit connexion, withdrew
to France; and four months after Miss Holly was delivered of a
daughter, which the aunt undertook to rear; and, at the desire of
her niece, who was wearied of solitude and restraint, waited on Mr.
Holly, to intercede in her behalf. He admitted their excuses,
consented to receive his daughter, and to bury the past in
oblivion; but to prevent her again disappointing him, he informed
Sir Horace of her expected return, and with him projected the
scheme which plunged me into misery!
"A few months after our ill-fated marriage, Mr. Holly's sister
died, leaving the whole of her fortune to your mother in secret
trust, as I not two months since discovered, for her infant
daughter. But avarice is your mother's motto, as well as Sir
Horace's; to that she yielded, and, smothering every softer
feeling, abandoned the child to the care of its father; and,
appropriating the money to her own use, sent a peasant with the
infant Louise to Mallet at Rennes!"
Sir Henry was here interrupted by Louise, who, bursting into tears,
said--"Ah the dreaded secret is explained! Oh, Harland, will you not
now despise the woman to whom you are united? The conduct of her parents
must stamp indelible shame on her name!"
"The virtues of Louise," said Harland tenderly, "are all her own, nor
can the actions of her parents lessen her for a moment in my regard."
Sir Henry paused a moment, till the violence of her emotion had
subsided; then continued:
"The discovery of these circumstances by the officiousness of the
woman she employed to transport the child, considerably degraded
your mother, in my opinion: had she, indeed, been as amiable as she
endeavoured to appear in the eye of the world, she might in time
have obliterated Eliza from my heart; but the pity I had felt for
her, as a victim, like myself, of parental tyranny, was then turned
to contempt and disgust: she perceived the change, and soon learned
the cause, and from that time marked me as the object of her
vengeance.
"Already a favourite with Sir Horace, she easily insinuated herself
into his affections, by continual coincidence with his opinion, and
the appearance of personal attachment; and the ascendancy once
gained, bent him entirely to her will. His anger to Ellenor, which
had been gradually subsiding, was by her revived, and artfully
fanned to the greatest height: whilst the coldness of my behaviour
was exaggerated, and imputed to the affection I still retained for
Miss Elvyn. Enraged at the bare supposition, he made his will,
restricting me from assisting one, or ever marrying the other. Not
satisfied with this, however, as your mother became seriously
indisposed, and fearing I should disregard the sacrifice of my
fortune if again at liberty; he determined to accomplish the design
he had before projected of uniting Eliza to my brother.
"The deaths of Mr. Holly and Sir Horace, were followed, my Henry,
by your birth; nor till you are yourself a father, can you conceive
with what transports I pressed you to my bosom. In you I
anticipated a future source of happiness; and as my fondness
increased, you became with me (be not surprised, my Henry, if
chance have not yet discovered it) likewise an object of thy
mother's indifference--and hatred! But, for your sake, I buried my
sorrows in my own bosom; enduring every species of behaviour
studiously calculated to drive me to a separation; and, could I
have been assured you would have enjoyed the property after her
decease, I would not have hesitated a moment in my determination;
but too well did I know her principles to place the power in her
hands.
"The return of my Ellenor and her infant, increased the anxiety
which preyed on my mind; though I trust, she will do justice to
her brother, in believing his heart never for an instant coincided
with the will of her father.
"For years your mother continued the same unwearied course of
conduct; affecting an outward appearance of submission to me, and
affection to you; whilst in secret she rendered home distasteful,
and embittered every moment I was obliged to pass in her society.
"How different the conduct of Eliza! She, though united to a man
she did not love, learned to esteem him for his virtues; cheerfully
fulfilling the duties of her station, she enjoyed the sweets of
friendship, and experienced content from internal rectitude. What a
contrast!
"The hours I passed at the Parsonage, with friends so beloved, in
assisting to form the mind of my Henry, I need not recount; but,
comparatively happy as they were, they could not compensate for the
behaviour of your mother, which at last has forced me to an early
grave.
"At your intercession, I consented to visit France; but receiving
intelligence Mallet had revisited Wales, I as hastily returned, and
found your mother had, indeed, renewed her acquaintance with this
her early lover! Unfeeling--insulting woman! couldst thou not stay
a few short weeks, till death had left thee free to accept the
lover of thy choice!--Yet even this I could have excused; nay,
perhaps, have pardoned: but from the private room, I heard them
exulting in the prospect of my death, and projecting plans to
deprive you, my beloved boy, of your inheritance; but the measures
I have pursued, I trust, will render Mallet's schemes abortive.
"By this means, I likewise learned that the infant Louise had been
deserted by its equally unnatural father, who left it exposed at
the Convent gate of St. Ursule. Even your mother, for a moment,
reprobated the inhumanity of the action; till he informed her the
Abbess had received, and consented to rear the child, as a
foundling from Heaven; but whether it still existed, he knew not.
If it do, (and be it your care, my Harry, to inquire) I charge you
to assist the unfortunate girl; yet likewise respect your mother,
nor wilfully seek to raise a blush of shame on her cheek: let the
consideration, that she is your mother, induce you to pardon what
otherwise you might condemn!
"To you she has ever preserved the appearance of maternal
affection, and, should you inherit her fortune, remember thirty
thousand pounds of it was left by her aunt, for the deserted
Louise; and to her let it be restored. But should Mallet, whose
hatred to you, I believe, is as unbounded as his influence over
her, induce her to bestow it on himself or others; forget not, my
son, she is your sister, and provide for her according to the
dictates of your own generous heart; to which, I must likewise
leave the care of my Ellenor and her son.
"Large is the fortune you will inherit, and the years of your
minority will considerably add to it. Sir Horace ever designed to
give his Ellenor fifty thousand pounds, which sum, should she be
re-united to the worthy but misguided Howard, you can present her
with; but should her Edward still be denied the knowledge of a
father, I would have you secure to him, in addition, the estate I
purchased of Howels.
"And now, my Henry, let me mention the subject, which, though
sinking to the grave, will still maintain the superiority of hope
in my bosom,--that the child of her I once fondly thought to have
called my own, may become your wife. With satisfaction, I have
perceived your youthful partiality for each other, and cherished
every spark of growing attachment. Yet if another should gain your
maturer affection, Heaven forbid that I should thwart your
inclination, or be the means, however indirectly, of uniting you to
a woman you could not prefer to the rest of her sex. Should you,
therefore, behold another with the eye of prepossession, at least,
regard Eliza as a sister, and give her a portion accordingly.
"And here, my Henry, let me rest. Though scarcely can I bring
myself to resign my pen; but it must be.--Harry, dear beloved
boy--dearer far to my heart than life itself, farewell! May every
blessing this transitory state affords, fall to your lot, till we
meet in those realms where eternal happiness rewards the virtuous
and afflicted!
"H. CORBET."
"Surprise and concern," continued Sir Henry, as he folded up the
packet, "for some time absorbed every faculty. Again I perused the
papers, which opened a mother's character to my view, and which the
occurrences of that day had marked as too just. Yet, for what purpose
could she confine me?--had she not succeeded in obtaining the estates?
at what further then did she aim? I could not resolve the question, but
insensibly reverted to the death of my father. The bed he expired on,
was before me, my destined couch of rest. Nature revolted at the idea,
and revived, with additional poignancy, the remembrance of his last
moments.
"'And Blond too is gone!' I cried, rising, and wildly pacing the room:
'and she who should prove the friend and guardian of her son, too
surely seeks his destruction!--But, perhaps, the will is not destroyed:
no one but Blond knew where it was placed.'
"My mother had secured my father's keys; but some months prior to his
decease, he had presented me with one of the private room; which had my
mother known, she would, most probably, have chosen another apartment
for my confinement.
"With a palpitating heart I unlocked the door, and hastily advanced to
the closet, where Blond had said it was deposited; but in vain I
searched; no will could I discover.
"'Too surely, it is destroyed,' I sighed; and at that moment my ear was
saluted by the voice of my mother in the adjoining apartment, which,
indeed, was her own; and, by the familiarity of her address, soon
discovered Mallet to be her companion. I was, indeed, on the spot whence
my father mentioned overhearing a former discourse. Listening
attentively, I heard my mother say--'You are wrong, Charles. Confining
him in the room where Corbet died, is the only way to effect my purpose.
Naturally of a pensive disposition, the recollection of his father,
forced on his mind by every object, cannot fail still more to deject
him. Could I but find this accursed will, and destroy it, I should not
fear him; but as it is--there I will keep him, till I either turn his
senses, or have a fair pretence for saying he is insane; which may
answer as well. Let me once get the entire management of his estates, it
is all I desire.'
"'I never doubted your abilities, Caroline,' said Mallet, 'but cannot
clearly comprehend how you can accuse him of insanity, when the evidence
of the servants must prove to the contrary; and as for really turning
his senses--your hopes, I am afraid, are rather too sanguine: Sir Henry
is soft in heart; not the head.--There is an easier way to settle your
pretensions. Were Sir Henry at rest with his father, no one would have a
just right to dispute the validity of the present will; which, if he
live to come of age, is a thing not at all unlikely to happen.--If he
were dead--'
"'The entailed estates,' interrupted my mother, 'would go to the heir at
law, and I should lose eight thousand a year.--So, no more on that
subject, Sir. He is the son of Corbet, of the man I hated; but I will
not consent to embrue my hands in his blood, though I should glory in
reducing him to the state in which you left Louise!'
"'Well, well, Caroline,' said Mallet, 'I yield: if you can accomplish
your design, far be it from me to dissuade you from it.'
"They proceeded to settle their future plans, and I retired to the
outward apartment, in a state nearly answering my mother's wishes.
"In the morning, Mallet brought my breakfast. I started from my seat at
his entrance; his injuries to my father, his villanous intentions toward
myself, rose on my tortured imagination, and hurried me nearly to
madness! Impelled by the phrenzy of the moment, I hurled my chair at him
with the utmost force, and levelled him with the floor! The folly of the
action, the moment I had committed it, served to restore my
recollection; for would it not aid my mother in her intentions to accuse
me of insanity? Mallet, perhaps, believed me then deranged, for,
springing on his feet, he with the greatest trepidation hurried out of
the room. He, however, took care to secure the door, and I was left to
reflect on my want of forbearance to one who, I was certain, would not
pass by the opportunity of injuring me. My prognostic was right: in less
than half an hour, my mother entered the room; her eye glanced with
secret satisfaction on the fragments of china scattered on the floor;
but, advancing to me, she haughtily asked the meaning of the outrage I
had committed? My heart swelled to agony at the question, though
certainly to have been expected. I could not avow the motive which had
instigated me.--I could not utter a falsehood: and, at last, throwing
myself on the bed, covered my face, and found a slight relief in
groans.
"Still now do her contemptuous taunts vibrate on my ear, as she told me
my new-acquired dignities would not sit graceful on me, if I knew not
better how to sustain the character of a gentleman!
"'They sit not easy on me, indeed, Madam,' I replied with a sigh. 'Would
to Heaven, that he who has borne them since my birth, still existed;
then should I not want a friend--a parent!'
"'No more of this insolence, Sir,' she retorted;--'lest you make me
forget I bear that title: and remember, it is in my power to prove an
enemy!'
"'It is indeed!' I repeated. 'I had at the moment, forgotten you gave
me birth!'
"She darted a look of scorn and anger at me, and desiring me
henceforward to behave with the duty which became me as a son and ward,
left me again to the torments of reflection.
"At noon, Mallet brought my dinner; and an hour after took it away,
untouched.
"For a week I was regularly served by him, and in that time, by means of
the closet, learned that the clergyman who was present with Blond at the
reading of the will, had been presented with the Corbet living; though,
as he refused to resign the house where he had long resided, Mrs. Blond
was permitted to remain at the Parsonage, at least till a proper
opportunity should occur of turning her out: likewise, that my mother,
wishing to preserve the character she had ever maintained in the opinion
of the world, immediately granted her request, that Blond, as he had
entreated, might be interred in the same vault with my father.
"This act of complaisance, however, was soon followed by one I little
expected.
"On the death of Sir Horace, my father, regarding the legacy bequeathed
to Blond as far less than he had a right to expect, would have added a
considerable donation to it; but this Blond refused, and was at last,
with difficulty, prevailed on to accept a small but pleasant estate,
which adjoined the Parsonage lands. This, however, from some neglect,
for which I cannot account, but most probably from Blond's unwillingness
to receive it, had never been properly assigned to him; though the rent
was constantly paid to him, and he regarded as the owner.
"This estate, my father, a few months before his decease, informed me he
had, with one more considerable, left in the fullest manner to his
brother. Nevertheless, my mother now reclaimed it and, as no writings
could be produced to prove it Mrs. Blond's, basely wrested from her the
principal means of her subsistence.
"Nor did she longer delay the execution of her devices to make me appear
insane; but one morning came to the door, and gently tapping, called me
by name, entreating to be admitted.
"'Your Ladyship,' I replied, 'has secured the means of entrance at all
times: why then demand it of me?'
"'What does he mean?' I heard her say, in a voice of concern, to her
maid who accompanied her: 'Henry, dear Henry, I conjure you, open the
door!'
"'If you, Madam,' I again answered, 'had intrusted me with the key, I
might have complied with your request: but at present would wish to know
for what offence I am treated as a prisoner.'
"'Heavens! how wildly he talks!' she continued to her companion; and
with greater energy begged and entreated to be admitted: whilst every
answer I could return, was by her artifice regarded as a proof of my
insanity by her servant; who did not fail to exaggerate what she had
heard to her companions; and in a few days it was believed, that I was
actually deranged.
"I learned the success of my mother's plan, by my usual channel of
intelligence; and for the future resolved to persevere in silence; but
it was of no avail; and some months passed, during which it was affirmed
that my confinement was from my own choice.
"In the course of this time, I had frequently renewed my search for the
will, though without effect; but one day, in examining the contents of a
secret drawer, I discovered bank-notes to the value of seven hundred
pounds, which I made no scruple of securing; and determined, should an
opportunity offer, to leave the Hall, and put myself under the
protection of St. Ledger.
"Providence, in this respect proved favourable; for, a few weeks after,
I was awakened in the night, by a person moaning at my door: thinking
it some new device of my mother, I disregarded it, till I heard the
voice of Thomas lamenting the supposed loss of my reason. I then
hesitated not a moment, but, springing out of bed, soon convinced him
the account he had received of me was false. This worthy servant's joy
was unbounded, and he promised to effect my liberation in the course of
a week; hinting at the same time, that he suspected his lady
participated in the disposition of Sir Horace.
"Thomas kept his word. He soon discovered Mallet was intrusted with the
key; he therefore ventured into his room one night, and perceiving him
in a sound sleep, took the key from his pocket, lightly stepped to my
apartment, and, with an expression of joy in his countenance not to be
described, proclaimed me at liberty.
"Little preparation was necessary; and, bidding my faithful old servant
farewell, I directed my steps to the Parsonage.
"My aunt and Mrs. Blond immediately rose on hearing who it was; and
after a short conference, I prevailed on them to receive part of the
money I had obtained, as their income was then reduced to little more
than one hundred pounds; for Blond possessed too benevolent a
disposition ever to think of amassing money. He had truly regarded his
parishioners as his children; as such their wants ever found the
readiest relief; and to the stranger his heart, his hand, and his door
had ever been open!
"After an affectionate adieu, I hastened to the church, where, for some
time, I indulged in an unrestrained sorrow over the ashes of my father
and Blond.
"The appearance of day at length warned me to retire; and tearing myself
from their sacred remains, I ran to the village, where I procured a
horse, and thence directed my course toward London.
"St. Ledger was from home; but I was received with the greatest
cordiality by his amiable wife, your beloved sister Francoise,
Louise--."
"Sister Francoise, my brother!" cried Louise with vivacity. "Ah, pardon
my interruption: but tell me--satisfy my curiosity respecting her."
"In a few words, Louise. St. Ledger, the man she was privately united
to, was in his youth the bosom-friend of my father: on his travels, he
saw and became enamoured of the amiable Francoise; and on her father's
refusing him her hand, prevailed on her to consent to a private
marriage. Their intercourse had continued some time, when he was
discovered by Monsieur de Colline, and the consequences which followed
were as you recited them, from the words of Sister Brigide. Francoise
was delivered of a son, who was doomed by the grandfather to an early
grave; but was preserved and secretly conveyed to St. Ledger, by the old
confident. This soon reached the knowledge of Monsieur de Colline, who
in the first paroxysm of passion, would have sacrificed her life, for
the innocent one she had preserved. He spared her, but on condition of
her taking an oath, never to divulge the retreat of Francoise to St.
Ledger, or to undeceive his daughter respecting the death of her infant;
for he well knew that whilst she supposed her child living, she would
not consent to retire from the world. Poor Francoise was deceived, and
imagining herself bereaved of both husband and offspring, gladly took
shelter from the anger and reproaches of her father and sisters, in the
Convent of St. Ursule. St. Ledger, in the mean time, after vainly
demanding his wife of her father, searched the country for some miles
round; till, imposed on by a fabulous tale of her death, he, in a state
of mind truly disconsolate, returned with his infant son to England.
"My father went to France at the time of Monsieur de Colline's death.
The circumstances attending the liberation of Francoise were too
publicly discoursed of to escape his knowledge, and he immediately
proceeded to Rennes, where, introducing himself as the intimate friend
of her husband, she joyfully accepted his offer of escorting her to
England.
"Francoise had written to St. Ledger, who, with an impatience equal to
his regard for this amiable woman, was hastening with his son to
France, to meet her, when my father unexpectedly presented her to his
embrace at Portsmouth, where St. Ledger was waiting for a favourable
wind, to convey him to the opposite coast.
"Since that time their happiness has never had the least interruption;
except from the hymeneal expedition of my friend Henry. They are,
however, perfectly satisfied with his choice of a bride, who, on her
part, appears sincerely attached to the parents of her husband.
"The elder St. Ledger, on his return in the evening, received me with
his usual friendship. To him my father had never divulged the secret of
his unhappiness; nor could I reveal it: but on his inquiring the reason
of my journey to London, I related what had passed between me and my
mother since the death of my father, and the means she had used to make
me appear insane. St. Ledger listened to my tale with complaisance; but
regarded my conduct as proceeding from youthful folly; and plainly told
me, he should sooner credit the idea of my insanity, than any thing to
the prejudice of Lady Corbet, who, he was well assured, loved me too
well, and was too just, wilfully to injure me or any one! He, however,
requested I would make his house my home as long as I remained in town;
and, at my entreaty, forbore to inform my mother where I was. The
precaution, however, was useless, as Lady Dursley accidentally saw me,
and wrote to my mother, who immediately came to London.
"With our subsequent rencontre at Sir John's, you are already
acquainted. My mother, on her first arrival in town, designed to have
called on St. Ledger; but, understanding he was at his country seat,
deemed it unnecessary; and, having recovered her emigrant, took leave of
her friends, and reconducted me to the Hall, where, a few days after, I
was again placed in confinement.