During an interval of three or four weeks, the period during which
Captain Flint was on his excursion to Heathcot, no occurrences
of importance to this history appear in Miss Cowley's letters to
her friend. It is my duty to supply this chasm by detailing a few
particulars relative to Mr. Horace Hardcastle's situation and pursuits,
these being so immediately connected with the thread of the narrative
as to claim attention.
The young nobleman, his friend, with whom he went abroad, continued
gradually to yield to the slow, but fatal malady which had so long
menaced the hopes of his family. Intervals of comparative ease, with
that flow of spirits which commonly attends this disease, and which
was further sustained by his patience and principles, had, from time
to time, beguiled him in the course of his unprofitable search after
health. He became weary of the sea, and disgusted by the confinement of
a ship's cabin; and he expressed much reluctance to quitting Lisbon,
where he had wintered. His friends about him strongly recommended to
him a retreat from the heat of the summer, which was within their
reach, and the accustomed resort of the society to which he was
attached and endeared. Doctor Innes, his tutor, convinced of the
inutility of the many cruises he had patiently submitted to undertake,
and the necessity of amusing his mind, immediately secured, in this
delightful asylum, a convenient house for his reception, to which the
family repaired in the early months of the summer.
The mutual confidence which subsisted between Lord William and Horace
Hardcastle, was of that nature which precludes all concealment; and the
dejection of the lover's spirits was not only a subject of disquietude
to Lord William, but of anxiety to Doctor Innes. He was influenced,
by the account given him of the young man's difficulties, to write to
his uncle, Mr. Freeman; and, stating to him his fears for his nephew's
health, he with much earnestness expatiated at large on the effects
of a domineering passion. "I have, my good friend," added the doctor,
"said thus much of Mr. Hardcastle's inclination, because I well know
it was implanted, and is nourished, by the purest affections of his
nature. Opposition will never destroy it; but it checks his activity,
preys on his spirits, and may blast the hopes of his family. It is time
his father should know this. Some indulgence is necessary, unless he
means to sacrifice his happiness to a point of honour." Alarmed by
the seriousness of this application, Mr. Freeman determined to quit
his beloved home, and to plead in person for the lovers; conceiving
that Mr. Hardcastle would be more accessible to his remonstrances,
when urged by an affection which had led him to think Horace a match
for the first woman breathing, in point of merit. He was successful,
or rather Doctor Innes's letter prevailed. The interdiction of writing
was removed; and Horace was informed that he had only to be cheerful
till Miss Cowley ceased to love; and to wait patiently for Counsellor
Steadman's operations with the redoubtable Mr. Flamall. These letters,
and the change of measures which Mr. Hardcastle had adopted, were
carefully concealed from Miss Cowley. Horace had been mentioned as
not only _depressed_ but _indisposed_, and the confederacy who had
jointly aided in the victory over his good father, concurred with Miss
Hardcastle that it was more prudent to leave Miss Cowley in repose, and
to Horace the pleasure of telling his own tale. Mr. Freeman, contented
with these advantages, and encouraged by Mr. Steadman's concurrence,
with whom he had an interview in London, in his way to Heathcot,
returned home. Captain Flint and Miss Howard's arrival immediately
followed. Some conversation, relative to her beloved brother, led Miss
Hardcastle to say to her guests, that she had been very unhappy from
the time he had left England; "but Heaven be praised," added she,
with unguarded warmth, "we shall be happy soon!"--"Do you expect your
brother home?" asked the captain. "No, but he will be more comfortable
than he has been abroad," answered she, with vivacity; "and it has been
his dejection as much as his absence which have been the subjects of
my regret. Thank God! all goes well at present." She instantly checked
herself, and changed the conversation.
The captain's return to Tarefield was followed by the letter before us.