"The visits of Mr. Talton in some degree restored my liberty: but
solitude was then become my choice; my mind, by constantly dwelling on
the waywardness of my fate, became gloomy; and my wretchedness was
farther encreased, by hearing the exultations of my mother, at the
subjection to which she had reduced me.
"Mallet, nevertheless, wished my death, under an apprehension that I
might, one day, discover the means which had been used to defraud me of
my possessions; and repeatedly endeavoured to persuade her to let him
administer such drugs as, without leaving any signs of violence, would
quickly send me to the grave.--This, however, my mother as often
opposed; and, at last declared, if I died, she would marry Talton.
"This arrangement by no means satisfied Mallet, whose real motive, I
believe, was an idea, that if I were dead, he might persuade or terrify
her into a marriage with himself.
"In the mean time, my mother continued her usual mode of behaviour
toward me; occasionally allowing me the liberty of rambling in the
surrounding plantations, though with two or three servants to watch me,
lest I should again attempt to escape.
"Thus passed more than a twelve-month, when I was taken ill; I loathed
my food; my strength failed me; and repose became a stranger to my
pillow. Frequently I passed the night in pacing my room; or, when the
moon afforded sufficient light, in contemplating the venerable structure
where the ashes of my father rested, or in tracing the different haunts
where he had so often attended me in my juvenile rambles.
"One night, as usual, I deserted my bed, my mind brooding on the ills
which might befall my Eliza and her friends, if fate should consign me
to the tomb; an event I thought very likely to happen;--restless, and
not knowing where to fly for relief, I, after some time wandering about
the chamber, unlocked the door of the private room; and, almost
unconsciously, advanced to the spot which had afforded me such a source
of unhappiness.
"Mallet was with my mother, and I soon found a disagreement, of no
trivial nature, had taken place.
"'--I speak more from a consideration of your safety, Lady Corbet, than
my own,' I heard him say. 'I have many resources which you have not;
and--I again repeat it--whilst Sir Henry lives, not only your property,
but your life also, is in danger: and, a moment's consideration would
make you sensible of what the consequence must be, should Mrs. Blond or
Mrs. Crawton seek the protection of Talton. They have eloquence as well
as you, nor might even their beauty vainly plead in their favour!'
"'Charles, no more!' said my mother. 'You have instigated me thus far,
nor will I now leave half my scheme unaccomplished. If you, Sir, are so
easily intimidated--I am not! Let them seek his protection--it will be
of no avail. I have Talton too securely in my toils, to fear any
application they may make!'
"'Perhaps not!' continued Mallet. 'I do not like trusting to a chance,
when you can proceed on a certainty. What would avail all your fine-spun
policy, if Sir Henry should ever discover the will?--Your ruin must
inevitably follow; nor will a charge of insanity then avail. With such a
proof in his favour, he will soon find friends to support him; and you
may then wish you had followed my advice. If he were dead, you would be
at least secured in your present property.'
"'Would then he were dead!' ejaculated my mother.--'But it is impossible
he should ever discover the will; though where Corbet could put it, I
cannot think. But it must and shall be found--and soon too!'
"Their discourse ceased; but I was too much lost in reflection to remark
it; and stood expecting its continuation, when my mother entered my
apartment. An exclamation of surprise and dismay escaped her, on
beholding the private room open, and anxiously advancing, she discovered
me, my head resting against a pilaster, and my hand pressed to my
beating temples.
"'What mean you, Sir?--How came you here?--How dare you enter this room,
without my permission?' she angrily demanded--her eye quickly glancing
from me to every part.
"'The same reason which brings you here, Madam,' I replied, 'first
induced me to enter: the hope and expectation of finding my father's
will.'
"'Your father's will!' she repeated. 'What means the boy?'
"'Not to establish my rights on a mother's destruction,' I replied:
'though most undoubtedly to do justice to those she has wronged. Oh, my
mother! in mercy, go no farther; nor thus lay up a source of
wretchedness for thy latter years. Life smiles gaily now, the meridian
of a summer's day; but recollect, that night, however late, must still
succeed. Will not my mother's soul then shrink from its glooms, and
dread to meet the record of her actions?'
"'Knowest thou to whom thou art speaking?' she cried, darting a look of
mingled scorn and fear at me.
"'To my mother!' I replied: 'and as such let her for once listen to me
with patience!--You must be conscious, Madam, I am not ignorant of the
measures you have pursued, to obtain the greatest part of my father's
property; neither for what reason you now regard and treat me as an
enemy. Believe me, you injure me, if you imagine that for the sake of
regaining those possessions, I should ever wish to expose you to the
censure of the world. Far from my heart be such a thought! I want not
superfluous wealth; for me the fortune inherited from my forefathers, is
amply sufficient. Freely then enjoy what you have obtained; by me you
shall never be molested. All I ask is the restoration of Blond's
property, and the society of my friends.'
"'Wretches!' she exclaimed. 'You too, I suppose, like your father, would
foster the vagrant Ellenor! But let her, and your friends, as you call
them, beware!'
"'She never injured you, Madam,' I cried; 'and recollect, she is the
sister of the man, to whom you bound yourself by the most solemn ties
before the face of Heaven. For myself I plead not; but as you hope for
mercy hereafter, show it to her and the unhappy Elvyns.'
"'And art thou to prescribe to me?' she contemptuously exclaimed.--'To
your chamber this instant, Sir; I shall not apply to you for guidance:
and, as you value your existence, dare not again to give such licence to
your tongue!--Begone, Sir!'
"I obeyed; taking the key from the door as I passed.
"She instantly followed me, and peremptorily demanded it.
"'Excuse me, Madam,' I replied, 'I cannot yield it. It was given me by
my father; and, as master of this mansion, I have an undoubted right to
retain it.'
"'Master of this mansion!' she franticly repeated. 'Never whilst I
exist.--Thinkest thou I will stoop to acknowledge thy superiority?'
"'Had I not been willing to acknowledge yours, Lady Corbet,' I answered,
'I had not thus long submitted to the restriction you have ordained;
though I do not promise much longer patiently to bear it!'
"She regarded me with a frenzied eye--'Dost thou threaten too?--Severely
shalt thou suffer for this! This instant, Sir, deliver the key.'
"'For God's sake, my mother,' I cried, 'do not thus oppress me: long
have I borne each ill you have inflicted, and nearly without a murmur;
in pity, then, spare me; nor thus add to the sorrows of a heart that is
already nearly broken.'
"'No trifling, Sir; my purpose is fixed; nor, by all that is sacred,
will I be dissuaded from it! I will not be subjected to your control, or
longer kept in awe by your pretensions!'
"'I do not wish it,' I cried; 'all I ask, is that which, if not
possessed by me, cannot devolve to you.'
"She stamped with rage.--'The key, Sir; this moment give it me.'
"'I have already told your Ladyship, I cannot--I will not yield it!'
"Never before had my mother experienced such opposition from me. Her
passions, already raised by the insinuations of Mallet, hurried her
nearly to madness; she snatched a pen-knife from the table where I had
been writing, her lips quivered as she grasped my arm--'Harry--if thou
darest again refuse--thou forfeitest thy life!'
"'Then take my life,' I cried; the tears starting to my eyes, and so
agitated that I could scarcely speak; 'when a mother seeks to destroy
it, what hand shall be raised for its preservation!--Yet think not by
depriving me of existence, to secure your safety. A charge of lunacy
may screen the action from the knowledge of the world; but there is an
all-seeing eye, Lady Corbet, that would mark it, and make you for ever
dread to meet the face of Heaven!'
"She regarded me with an agitation, that too plainly showed the state of
her mind, then cast me from her with violence, and hurled the knife to
the further part of the room. I was hastening to secure it, when Mallet,
either for the purpose of assisting her to search for the will, or from
a motive of a darker nature, entered the chamber. He started on
beholding me, and, with a well-counterfeited surprise, asked the reason
of my being up at such an unseasonable hour?
"'Where the assassin dwells,' I replied, 'it is requisite to watch,
instead of sleeping!'
"'Assassin!' he repeated as he advanced; when perceiving the knife in my
hand--'What madness, Sir Henry, have you been attempting? A strait
waistcoat I believe will soon terminate your nightly exploits!'
"My mother here informed him of her finding me in the private room, and
of my refusing to resign the key.--'A circumstance,' he significantly
returned, 'at which I am not in the least surprised. Your Ladyship will
most probably be very soon convinced, that the measures I advised were
highly requisite.'
"My mother regarded him with an expressive countenance, but was silent,
and Mallet continued--'It is not yet too late to rectify the error; and
as I know the necessity for it, I shall take the liberty of
dispossessing Sir Henry of the means of future entrance to that
apartment.' Then addressing me--'I have no time to lose in persuasion,
young gentleman: if you do not peaceably resign the key, I shall use
effectual means to obtain it!'
"'Never from my hands shall you receive it,' I indignantly cried: 'nor
whilst I have life will I part with it. I know the blackened purpose of
your heart too well; but Corbet still has a friend, who will deliver him
from your machinations.'
"'What mean you by that insinuation, Sir?' he ferociously exclaimed.
"'Look on this wasting form,' I replied, 'and let that answer
thee.--Wretch that thou art, could not thy injuries to my father satisfy
thee, but thou must also seek to destroy his son!'
"He did not receive this imprudent accusation calmly, but seized me with
a strength I had not power to oppose.--'Since you have taxed me with
such an intention,' he exclaimed, 'it shall not be for nothing. Your
life has long been in my power, though I have weakly spared it!'
"My mother called to him to forbear; but rage had bereaved him of all
prudence or consideration, and, wresting the pen-knife from me, he
attempted to plunge it into my bosom.
"Quick as lightning, my mother caught his hand, and again commanded him
to desist, or she would instantly alarm the family.
"This declaration recalled him to a sense of his own safety: he sullenly
obeyed; but at the same time asserted that the provocation he had
received, was more than sufficient to authorise what he had done; and,
with many bitter invectives, declared, my insanity should be no defence
for offering him such insults!
"'Your excuse, Sir,' I exclaimed, 'is too absurd to pass even with a
madman; and I am not yet sufficiently bereaved of my senses, to need an
explanation of the motives which instigated you to seek my destruction!'
"'Then I will not attempt one,' he fiercely replied; 'but boldly
say--Corbet Hall cannot--nor shall any longer contain two masters!'
"My mother regarded him with a look of ineffable scorn.--'Surely thou
too art insane!--Know you not, Sir, where I am, no one shall claim the
title of master? and as you value my good opinion, never again dare to
entertain such an expectation.'
"Mallet was abashed, and, after some moments pause, said--'Do I rightly
understand you, Lady Corbet?'
"'It appears not, Sir,' answered my mother; 'or you would not thus
insolently assume the privilege of acting contrary to my injunction! But
from this time, Sir, learn that I expect implicit obedience to my will:
if not--as I have raised, you shall likewise find it is in my power to
replace you in your original obscurity!'--'To you, Sir,' addressing me,
'I shall only say, that unless you resign the key, I will immediately
bring a charge of lunacy against you: nor shall you ever again pass
beyond the walls of your present apartment!'--Then ordering Mallet to
follow her, with an air of the sternest dignity, she quitted the room.
"Mallet knew my mother's temper too well, to irritate her, by a further
opposition to her commands; he therefore slowly directed his steps
toward the door, when perceiving she was beyond hearing, he turned to me
in a menacing manner--'Next time we meet, young man, your life shall
surely pay the forfeit for this night's adventure!'
"He closed the door; leaving me in a state of wretchedness surpassing
aught I had then experienced. To resign the key, was to yield the only
means by which, as I imagined, I could ever hope to obtain my father's
will; and would be consigning not only myself, but my aunt, Mrs. Blond,
and all who were dear to me, to ruin!--To retain it--or indeed to remain
where I was, would be equally destructive; for Mallet, I doubted not,
would keep his word.
"I stood for some time nearly stupified with horror. 'Is no resource
left to save me?' I at last sighed, advancing to the window. The morning
had dawned, and a gypsey I had two or three times spoken to, was
crossing the lawn toward the house. To me he came the angel of
deliverance; and, allowing myself scarcely a moment's consideration, I
broke a square of glass--for the windows were too well secured to admit
of my opening them---and called to him.
"He heard me, and immediately approached; when tying five guineas in my
handkerchief, I threw it to him, and briefly telling him my situation,
promised him twenty more if he would aid me to escape.
"He declared himself willing to assist me; but that he knew not how to
effect my liberation. No time, I was certain, was to be lost; I
therefore directed him to an outhouse, whence he procured a ladder,
which he placed against the window, and breaking another square of
glass, severed the wood-work that divided them; with some difficulty I
got through, and thus, once more, found myself at liberty!
"I gave him his promised reward, and hastened, as fast as my feeble
state would admit, to the Parsonage; where my aunt and Mrs. Blond, on
hearing what had passed, urged me instantly to fly; but not choosing to
put the friendship of St. Ledger again to a trial, or knowing where else
to go, my aunt advised my seeking the protection of her Howard, whose
generous heart, and the remembrance of his Ellenor, she doubted not,
would render him favourable to my suit.
"You were then at Yarmouth; for my aunt had constant intelligence of
your destinations from the time of your quitting Brighthelmstone; and
refusing the money she would have forced me to accept, I set out on foot
for Hay. But my escape was already discovered. Mallet, early in the
morning, entered my room, and finding me gone, immediately dispatched
the servants in pursuit of me.
"This I learned from old Owen, and was again obliged to have recourse to
the gypsey, who, knowing the urgency of the moment, refused the offer of
my clothes for his, without a considerable gratuity. It was not a time
to argue or deliberate; I therefore paid his demand, and soon found
myself in rags, and with something less than three guineas. I, however,
travelled in safety, though reduced to some distress from the lowness of
my purse, and at last reached the spot, where the benevolence of my
friend Frederick relieved me from apprehended danger.
"I was beginning to recover my tranquillity, when the appearance of Mr.
Talton drove me from your protection:--of my subsequent rencounter with
the smugglers, I have already informed you. After my escape from them, I
worked my passage to Cardigan; where, anxious to see my aunt and Eliza,
I proceeded immediately for the Parsonage, secure, as I thought, in my
sailor's habit. The appearance of Mallet drove me to the cottage of
Owen, who informed me of the report circulated of my death, and that
you, Mr. Talton, had previously to your going to Holland, in my mother's
name, demanded of Mrs. Blond, the back rents of the lands, my father
had attached to the Parsonage, and which my mother had already torn from
her possession."
"'I now,' said Mr. Talton, 'take shame to myself for the action, to
which I was instigated by Lady Corbet, who informed me, Mrs. Blond had
in her house a woman the late Sir Henry had kept previously to his
marriage, and on whom he had since lavished immense sums; that, to
reward Blond for affording her his countenance, he had allowed him the
free rent of the lands; likewise, that she suspected Mrs. Blond was
endeavouring to inveigle you, Sir Henry, into a marriage with her
daughter. I cannot say this account agreed with the characters I ever
received of Mr. and Mrs. Blond; but such was my affection for your
mother, that I still retained the opinion she had impressed me with. She
did not, she said, want the money; but being certain they were the
instigators of your elopement, she wished to have them removed to a
greater distance, but knew no other means to effect it, without exposing
the conduct of the late Sir Henry, which she would willingly avoid. On
going to the parsonage, I was introduced to a lady I had never before
seen: the beauty of her face and figure, added to the extreme shyness
and embarrassment with which she received me, induced me to think she
was the mistress your mother had mentioned; and I am sorry to say, I
behaved to her with a harshness and severity, I am now convinced she
did not deserve; but I should sooner have discredited the evidence of my
senses, than the word of your mother; and scarcely, indeed, can I
believe them, in the discovery this day has afforded! But, I beg pardon,
Sir Henry; pray proceed.'"
"Alarmed at the intelligence I received," continued Sir Henry, "I
hastened to the Parsonage, and found it deserted by all but Mary, who
confirmed the truth of old Owen's report: and that, on the news arriving
of my death, they had been obliged to fly, as Mallet had threatened to
send them to gaol. Mary wept as she gave me the relation of their
distress, and at last said--'Ah! Sir Henry, would to Heaven you had
never left the Hall; for I heard old Thomas tell my Lady, if you had
staid, and thought of the pannel, all had been well; they should not now
have had to regret your death, or been unjustly driven on a merciless
world, to seek their maintenance.'
"Mary knew not the meaning of what she uttered, but, quick as lightning,
it brought to my recollection a pannel which concealed a small cavity in
a closet adjoining the library. There, I doubted not the will was
placed! The woman my father loved, my aunt, her Edward, and her on whose
happiness I then found mine depended, were wandering without support:
and the idea determined me, regardless of the consequence which must
ensue, should I be discovered, to venture beneath the roof I so lately
fled from!
"Favoured by the night, I entered by the servants offices, and got,
unperceived, through the library to the closet. Mary had provided me
with a small dark lanthorn, and, with some difficulty I opened the
cavity; but again was doomed to disappointment; it was vacant! With an
aching heart I closed the pannel, and was going to leave the closet,
when my mother and Mallet entered the library. They discoursed on the
improvement of an estate he had purchased for my mother a few weeks
before; till Mr. Talton's name was casually mentioned, when he asked if
she really designed to marry him? and, on her answering in the
affirmative, he endeavoured to dissuade her from it, and to prevail on
her to bestow her hand on himself.
"'I love you, Charles,' she answered, 'and believe your sentiments are
reciprocal; but will never put it in your power to controul me. I am now
mistress of a noble fortune; and you are welcome to partake of it, even
if increased by that of Talton. Cease then to repeat the only request I
wish to refuse you; and rest satisfied with the title of my lover.'
"He still urged his suit, still she peremptorily forbade the subject,
and reverted to the newly-purchased estate; he soon after retired to his
office, and my mother entered the closet where I was, for the purpose of
writing. Never was surprise and horror greater than that expressed on
her countenance at beholding me: scarcely could her trembling hand
retain the light which exposed the features of a son to her view.--'It
is the phantom of the drowned Corbet!' she at length faintly screamed.
'Approach me not! Help--help!'
"'No, Madam,' I exclaimed, 'your son still lives! and you may now glory
in having reduced him to the state, in which your lover deserted
Louise.'
"I rushed by her, hearing the servants approaching; escaped into the
garden, and, scaling the wall, retraced my steps to Cardigan; every hope
lost of discovering the will, or ever being restored to my rights.
Cooler reflection, however, offered a different interpretation to the
words of Mary, to what I had at first imagined they implied; and I
thought it not impossible, but even probable, that Thomas had discovered
the will (as he actually had), and conveyed it to my aunt and Mrs.
Blond. But where to trace them--I knew not. I was moneyless, and
certainly in danger of being discovered by my mother; and the same
precaution they must use to elude the knowledge of Mr. Talton; would, I
feared, as effectually conceal them from me. For some days, however, I
endeavoured to gain intelligence of them, but in vain; and the powerful
demands of hunger, at last, compelled me to engage as a common sailor in
a merchantman trading to Havre-de-Grace; where, disgusted with the
Captain, I left the vessel, and, having an ardent desire to know if my
deserted sister was in existence, I travelled on foot to Rennes. My
adventures there--my rescue of Louise, I have already related; till the
period when Providence directed my steps to L'Orient, where, impelled
again by necessity, I engaged to serve in a vessel destined with others
to Pondicherry. The day after we reached St. Helena, you, Captain
Howard, also arrived there, and fortune, there wearied of persecuting
me, not only restored me to your friendship, but discovered to me a
sister, endeared to my heart by her misfortunes, before a personal
knowledge made me love her for her virtues; yet the recollection of past
events, forced continually to mind by her striking resemblance to my
mother, preyed on my heart. I again sunk under it; and, but for the
attentions of you, my friends, should most probably, ere this period,
have left my mother the lawful possessor of the fortune she now
illegally holds."
"Thank Heaven, my prayers were heard for the preservation of your
existence:" said Louise: "though, had you, my brother, entrusted me with
the secrets you have this day disclosed, Louise would have been your
comforter, and, by sharing your griefs, have lightened the sorrow which
oppressed you."
"Say, rather, have added to it, my dear girl;" said Sir Henry, "from
the consciousness of having rendered you as unhappy as myself: and but
for the discovery of last night, this of to-day would never have taken
place. For the friends we here found, I wished the recovery of my
fortune; as indeed with them the means rested: and, had not Providence
conducted us to them, should never on my own account oppose her, who,
whatever are her failings,--is still my mother!"
The company here unanimously joined in thanking Sir Henry for the
elucidation of the mysteries which had perplexed them.
"Yet has he not related every particular," said Ellenor, smiling. "He
might have added, that since the deaths of his father and Blond, his
hand has not only sustained Ellenor and her son, but the descendants of
Sir James Elvyn.
"On your second emigration, my Henry, your mother, not being able to
discover you, turned the effects of her rage against us, and sent a
peremptory demand, by Mr. Talton, for the back-rents. This message,
which portended our ruin, threw us into the utmost consternation;
though, had I entertained a suspicion the lover of Lady Corbet was the
former friend of my Howard, I should not have hesitated a moment in
discovering myself to him, and appealing to the rectitude of his own
principles against the injustice and inhumanity of the claim. Your
mother, however, at that time, went to London, and Mr. Talton
accompanying her, in some degree freed us from our fears of immediate
distress; but the following morning, Mallet, attended by an officer,
entered the room whilst we were at breakfast, and arrested Mrs. Blond
for three and twenty hundred pounds, the amount of the rent for
seventeen years.--Nor was my unhappy friend treated with either respect
or mercy, but, on declaring her inability to discharge the debt,
instantly hurried away to confinement.
"To sue for lenity, I was certain would be in vain, I therefore
(trusting to Sir Henry's friendship, to redress the injury,) paid the
money; consisting of my father's legacy to Blond, which had hitherto
been preserved for Eliza, and the money Sir Henry had supplied me with,
for my Edward's maintenance at the University.
"Lady Corbet, however, was determined on forcing us from Caermarthen;
for, a few weeks after, we were privately informed by a servant from the
Hall, that he had overheard Mallet threatening to arrest both me and
Mrs. Blond, as joint tenants, for the rent of the parsonage since the
death of Blond, and from Mr. Talton's name being likewise mentioned, he
was induced, he said, to think that gentleman concerned in the
business.--This relation, added to the late occurrence, considerably
affected the health of Hannah; and she earnestly entreated her sister to
leave the Parsonage, and seek a surer asylum at the house of Lieutenant
Booyers, at least till we should hear from Sir Henry. Mrs. Blond readily
acceded to the proposal, and, writing for my Edward to return, we
prepared for our departure.
"At that time Thomas returned from Cornwall, where he had been sent some
time before Sir Henry's elopement; and on being informed of that
circumstance, and our sentiments respecting Lady Corbet, he declared he
had supported my brother, when he took his will from the private room,
and placed it in the recess of his closet; but ever supposed it had been
the same which was produced after his decease. He undertook to procure
it; but could not accomplish his design, till the day previous to Lady
Corbet's return; the library being shut up, and Mallet in possession of
the keys: an opportunity then presented itself, of entering unperceived,
and he found the will, indeed, where my brother had placed it. He
immediately brought it to me; when every ardent hope, the discovery had
raised, was destroyed, by the report of Sir Henry's death. Thomas's
dislike to Lady Corbet being greatly increased by the knowledge of this
action, he determined to follow my fortunes, and attach himself to my
son as his future master. We accordingly proceeded to Lieutenant
Booyers, where the amiable Hannah--her gentle spirit broken by repeated
afflictions--sunk beneath this last misfortune, and, a few weeks after,
found a refuge from her sorrows in the grave.
"We were yet mourning her loss, when we were alarmed by Susan informing
us, she had seen you, Mr. Talton, alight at the inn.--Not doubting but
that you were in pursuit of us, we ordered a carriage from the adjoining
village, and prepared again for flight. On Booyers' return with Ellen,
being made acquainted with the emergency of our situation, he consented
to accompany us, and we thus set out--Providence our guide--to seek a
future habitation. Heaven conducted us to this spot, where happiness has
once more become an inmate of my bosom; and where justice, I hope, by
the hand of my Howard, will re-establish Sir Henry in the possessions of
which he has been defrauded."
"My obligations to Sir Henry, on your account, my Ellenor," said the
Captain, "I can never sufficiently acknowledge; indeed every action or
account but heightens my admiration and regard. Let me then know, my
young friend, how you wish to proceed--and command my fortune and
interest."
"It is now the subject to be considered," said Sir Henry. "Violent
measures we cannot pursue. The will my mother produced is forged: think
then what must be the consequence, if I commence a process of law
against her. No--rather let me rest satisfied with the entailed estates.
I would wish to appoint you my guardian, for the remainder of my
minority: my mother, at her decease, may perhaps be just: if
not--whilst blessed with the friendship of those I so highly esteem, and
as I trust with the hand and affection of Eliza, I shall not only have
sufficient to fulfil my father's request, but to enjoy every comfort of
life: its luxuries I am content to dispense with."
"I cannot agree to this arrangement," said Mr. Talton: "and if you, Sir
Henry, will allow me to be joint guardian with Captain Howard, I may,
perhaps, be able to re-establish you in your rights, without the aid of
the law."
Sir Henry readily consented, on condition that his mother was not
exposed.
"That, Sir Henry," continued Mr. Talton, "I shall carefully avoid. My
affection to your mother, first founded on personal attractions, was
confirmed only by the appearance of every virtue. Think, then, what must
be my sentiments, at the discovery of her real character. I shall
respect your feelings, my amiable young friends, nor forget that she is
your mother: but these proofs of her duplicity, have raised a sentiment
of indignation, perhaps not altogether excusable, against the woman for
whom I so lately avowed an ardent attachment: but sooner will I tear the
dearest hope, the richest prospect of happiness my fancy could pourtray
from my heart, than be an accomplice in wronging her already too much
injured offspring!
"Misled by her insinuations, I regarded the late Sir Henry as a tyrant,
and her son, as a youth of sordid unsocial principles! I am
undeceived--and here avow myself the supporter of his cause. Lady Corbet
shall find, that when led into an error, Talton is neither ashamed to
acknowledge it, nor to make reparation as far as lies in his power! Nor
do I think it will prove an improper punishment to her, to be deprived
of her ill-obtained wealth, by the man she pretended affection to, and
would have accepted, with no other view than to increase it. But whether
I succeed or not in this act of justice, you, Sir Henry, shall ever find
a father in me!"
Sir Henry returned his acknowledgements for the regard Mr. Talton
professed; and began to cherish a hope, that all would yet terminate to
his satisfaction. The re-appearance of Mrs. Blond added to the pleasure
which prevailed: only the bosom of Louise sometimes heaved a sigh, at
the disappointment of the ideas she had cherished, of being restored to
the arms of a mother.
The messenger returning with the licence, arrangements were commenced
for the approaching nuptials. The Captain wished to have secured his
Ellenor an ample competence, independent of himself: but she refused the
jointure, telling him, with a smile, she would not be restricted to a
part of his fortune. They, therefore, agreed to dispense with the
delays of the law, and appointed the following day for their re-union:
after which, they proposed to proceed to Mr. Talton's, and there wait
the return of Lady Corbet.
Enlivened by genuine gaiety, the hours passed imperceptibly; and the
ensuing morning, Ellenor, for the second time, gave her hand to the man
she loved: and the transports of the Captain on the occasion, showed how
highly he prized the gift.