 Section 51 of the Inheritance by Susan Edmund Steunferrier. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Volume 2, Chapter 17. What man so wise, so earthly wit, so rare, as to describe the crafty cunning train, by which deceit, death, mask, and visor fare, and cast her colors dyed deep in grain, to seem like truth whose shape she well can thane. Very Queen. Nurse Sooner had Mr. Lindsay seen Miss St. Clair safe within the castle walls. Then he instantly retraced his steps with the intention of returning to the summer house, for the purpose of extricating her, if possible, from the mysterious throlden in which she seemed to be held by this person. At the midnight recontra in the wood he had asserted a right over her, which although she herself had disclaimed with almost frantic wildness, her mother had tacitly acknowledged by not directly denying. In the short conversation he had held with Mrs. St. Clair, subsequent to that meeting she had with tears implored his silence, his secrecy, his forbearance, and in broken and indirect terms had given him to understand that this person had been engaged with her husband in certain money transactions which, out of regard to his memory, she was desirous of keeping concealed. And it was upon this ground he had asserted a claim upon Miss St. Clair's fortune, which she had unwarrantably extended to her hand. This mangled and absurd account could not impose upon Lindsay, but at that time he was almost a stranger to Mrs. St. Clair and did not conceive himself authorized to interfere in her concerns. He therefore contented himself with mildly admonishing her on the impropriety of such clandestine meetings and recommending to her to lay this person's claims before Lord Rossville as the proper protector of his brother's memory and his niece's interest. In the meantime he yielded to Mrs. St. Clair's entreaties and gave her his promise not to divulge what had passed upon her solemn assurance that the affair was in the way of being amicably adjusted and that she had taken the factual means of ridding herself forever of this person's importunity. This promise, it now appeared, had not been kept. Again Miss St. Clair had been exposed to fresh insult in his presence and he now fought himself entitled to interpose. With this purpose he walked quickly back and had almost reached the summer house. When he was met by Mrs. St. Clair her countenance was agitated and traces of tears were visible in her eyes. She did not however now seem to shun him for she stopped and extended her hand to him saying, You are the very person I most wish to see. Give me your arm and let us return together. I have much to say to you. But there is a person there to whom I also have much to say and I cannot have the honor of attending you till I have first spoken with him. As he was passing on when Mrs. St. Clair caught his arm I know whom you seek but spare yourself the trouble he is gone. Where, which way, eagerly demanded he but I must ascertain that myself. And he ran with all his speed to the summer house but it was deserted and though he looked long and keenly in all directions not a trace of anyone was to be seen. He was therefore obliged to retrace his steps and soon overtook Mrs. St. Clair. You would not give credit to me then said she in a tone of reproach. I shall give credit to you now answered he if you will tell me where I am likely to find the person I left here half an hour ago. I cannot tell and if I could perhaps I would not. No good could possibly result from your meeting. Your wish I know is to be friend my daughter and myself and be assured I am far from insensible of the value of such a friend but come with me I have much to say to you much to confide to you of my dearest Gertrude. Mrs. St. Clair's hyperbolical jargon was always offensive to Mr. Lindsay's good taste and right feeling but there was something absolutely revolting in it at this time there was something so strained and unnatural in it such a flimsy attempt thus seeming to court explanation that he felt armed against the duplicity he was aware would be practiced upon him. At another time I shall be ready to listen to anything which concerns Miss St. Clair said he coldly but at present I wish to put a few questions to the person pardon me but I know all you would say my dear Mr. Lindsay and you must allow me to anticipate those questions by the confidential communication I am now about to make to you on your honor on your secrecy I know I may place the most unbounded reliance I therefore require no assurances to satisfy me I certainly can give none until I know how far secrecy may be compatible with honor Mrs. St. Clair effected not to hear this implied doubt but went on you have now had opportunities of becoming acquainted with my daughter of forming your own opinion of her character of pardon a mother's vanity of appreciating her charms and her graces but you know not none but a mother can know the treasures of her heart and mind Mrs. St. Clair paused inside and Mr. Lindsay was too much surprised at such an opening to make any reply judge then at my grief and anguish at finding this gifted being this idol of my affections ensnared by the artifices of one every way unworthy of her has been led to bestow her regards pardon me cried Lindsay but I can have no possible right to be made the depository of Miss St. Clair's sentiments by any but herself I must be excused from listening to anything more on that subject I simply wish to know where I am likely to find the person who has twice in my presence dared to insult her yet it is only by hearing me patiently and suffering me to take my own way in divulging the circumstances of the case as I think best that I can possibly make you acquainted with them either my lips must be sealed as to the whole or you must listen to the whole without interruption I am mistaken if I tell you anything new when I allude to my daughter's misplaced partiality still more mistaken if her future happiness is a matter of indifference to you Lindsay made no answer he felt that Mrs. St. Clair was weaving a web around him but he could not bring himself to burst from its folds and he suffered her to proceed I will not attempt to paint to you the anguish of my heart at discovering that the innocent affections of my unsuspecting child had been thus artfully and insidiously worked upon by Colonel Delmore I know him and you know him to be a selfish, mercenary, unprincipled man as incapable of appreciating such a being as Gertrude as she would have been of bestowing her affections on a character such as his had not her imagination been dazzled and misled but alas at 17 where is our judgment and discrimination yet at 7 and 20 they will come too late then long before then if she becomes the wife of Colonel Delmore she will be the most wretched of women formed to find her happiness solely in the being she loves noble, generous, upright, sincere herself will be her feelings when the mask drops as drop it will from this idol of her fancy and she beholds him in his native deformity no sooner than see her the wife of Colonel Delmore I take heaven to witness I would rather look upon her in her coffin inflated as all this was till there was much of truth and right feeling in it and he insensibly forgot his suspicions and lessened with profound attention yet I dare not express to Lord Rossville all that I feel for neither can I exceed to his views for the disposal of my daughter Gertrude has too much taste in feeling too much heart and soul to be sacrificed to family pride and political influence in fact as far as regards her happiness there is but a choice of evils in these brothers but there is one she stopped and hesitated there is one to whom I would with pride and pleasure have confided my dearest treasure in the certainty that as her judgment matured so her love and esteem would increase towards that one why should I conceal from you my wish? Mrs. St. Clair made a full stop and looked at Mr. Lindsey in a manner he could not misunderstand this was something he had not anticipated it went far beyond what he had calculated upon and he was thrown off his guard his features betrayed his emotion although he remained silent there was a long pause at length Mrs. St. Clair resumed the time will come when the veil will fall from my daughter's eyes as her judgment ripens her imagination will decline already I can perceive the work is begun and time is all that is wanting to finish it but if as may happen she is hurried into a clandestine engagement my hopes her happiness will be forever blasted on the other hand if by any sacrifice any stratagem I can say for can you blame me for the attempt however wild or desperate it may appear I certainly could not blame a sacrifice however vain it might prove said Lindsey but I must always disapprove of stratagems even when successful both together seem to me incompatible for a moment Mrs. St. Clair was thrown into confusion by this remark but quickly rallying she replied yet the one may prove the consequence of the other in my case I fear it has and that in using what I conceived an allowable stratagem to save my daughter I have sacrificed what I value next the good opinion and a steam of Mr. Lindsey it rests with yourself to remove any unfavorable impression I may have received a few words will suffice I feel that you will blame me that you will condemn the step I have taken said Mrs. St. Clair in evident embarrassment it must appear to you strange unworthy unnatural but you know not the difficulties of my situation Gertrude rash and ungovernable Lord Rossville inflexible and exacting if she marries Colonel Delmore her fortune and her happiness are both alike blasted to save her from that at least to gain time can you altogether condemn me if I have taken advantage of this person's unwarranted claim upon her fortune to induce a belief in her mind that that claim doesn't reality extend to her hand and that but oh heavens exclaims she as they suddenly came inside of the castle it must be very late lights in the drawing room and company assembled if I am missed tomorrow we shall resume this subject meantime I must fly and she would have withdrawn her arm from Mr. Lindsey's but he detained her no said he before we part promise me solemnly that you will lay open to me the whole of this dark transaction strange thoughts have taken possession of my mind I will no longer connive at this mystery he was too dark to see the working of Mrs. St. Clair's features but he felt the hand he held tremble in his grasp tomorrow then tomorrow dear Mr. Lindsey I promise to satisfy you more fully said she in a voice faint from agitation till then be silent I conjure you for Gertrude's sake be silent oh do not detain me there is the warning bell and she darted forwards and ran till she reached the door then turning round she pressed Lindsey's hand and in breathless accents whispered for Gertrude's sake then you will be silent till tomorrow you promise me this till tomorrow then be it said he Mrs. St. Clair again pressed his hand in token of gratitude then entered softly and stole upstairs to change her dress while Mr. Lindsey as he walked openly and deliberately to his apartment thought she has got the better of me I fear after all but tomorrow will show End of Section 51 Section 52 of the Inheritance by Susan Edmund Stoonfarrier this LibraVox recording is in the public domain Volume 2 Chapter 18 such deep despondence rends her trembling heart conscious of deeds which honor cannot own Euripides although Mr. Lindsey had made all dispatch and dressing yet upon entering the drawing room he found Mrs. St. Clair had got the start of him no appearance of hurry or agitation was now visible unless in her more than usually brilliant color her dress was handsome and well arranged her air to common observers easy and unembarrassed and altogether she formed a striking contrast to her daughter who sat by her pale thoughtful and dejected with the look of one who had almost unconsciously suffered herself to be dressed as Mr. Lindsey entered he heard Mrs. St Clair say to Lord Rossville in answer to some remark of his I was indeed caught today I foolishly took the alarm at Gertrude's absence during that prodigious shower and set out in search of her myself but we missed each other and have now only met by the sight of your lordship's charming fire Lord Rossville loved to be complimented upon his fires which were always constructed after a model of his own and were of course notoriously bad but Mrs. St. Clair knew how to throw out a tub to catch a whale her well-timed compliment led to a discussion upon fires stoves and coals which ended in the whole company being speedily involved in the intricacies of one of the Earl's own coal pits from which they were only rescued by a summons to dinner Mr. Delmore had returned bringing a band of his second-rate political allies along with him and the conversation consequently took its cast from them and was as dull as political discussions always are unless when worse than dull, violent Mrs. St. Clair entered into all that was said by John Amour and was consequently thought by the greater part of the company to be an uncommon, clever, charming, well-informed, lady-like woman Lady Betty asked some questions as efficient as usual and passed for a very worthy, sensible, affable old lady Mrs. St. Clair sat silent and absent and indifferent to what was going on and was pronounced a cold, haughty, inanimate, fine lady such are the judgments daily passed upon as slight a knowledge of that within which past the show and so superficial a thing is popularity Unquitting the dining room Mrs. St. Clair whispered her daughter to follow her to her own apartment and no sooner were they there then shutting the door with violence she seemed as if eager to indemnify herself for the constraint she had been under Gertrude cried she all at once giving way to her agitation again you see me in your hands again my fate hangs on your decision again it is yours to save or to destroy me Gertrude could not speak her heart sickened at the evil she anticipated but I will not go over the same ground I have done I tell you I am at your mercy but I will neither supplicate nor command I leave you free pronounce my doom and do not fear even my reproaches Gertrude senses almost forsook her as the dreadful idea flashed upon her that she was to be required to save her mother's life at the expense of becoming the wife of the dreaded Lewiston and sinking at her feet in wild broken accents she besought her to spare her compose yourself Gertrude cried Mrs. Sankler suddenly calmed herself at sight of her daughter's still stronger emotion I tell you you have nothing to fear for me I have promised that I will not even seek to influence you all I require of you is to hear the alternative oh no no spare me that dreadful alternative kill me but save me from him and she clung to her mother's knees with convulsive energy Gertrude this is madness it rests with yourself to rid me of that man I trust forever come sit down by me and listen and she seated herself at a writing table in place to her daughter beside her after a pause during which she seemed to be struggling with her feelings she spoke Gertrude I cannot conceal from you that we are both in the power of a villain I have told you and I again repeated the circumstances which have placed me there I will only disclose with my dying breath if even then how soon that may be depends upon your decision I can no longer conceal from you that he does possess a claim over you may be still and hear me which he is ready to relinquish if within 24 hours I can raise 500 pounds this I must accomplish or my ruin your wretchedness for life is inevitable Gertrude began to breathe at this unexpected relief if he obtains the sum he has pledged himself to quit the kingdom and with worlds if I had them would I purchase his absence but what are those mysterious claims which this man has upon me why not bring them forward openly let them be urged in the face of the world in this land of freedom in my uncle's house what have I to fear as you value your father's memory as you value my peace my life let this transaction be forever buried in silence if there were a way to escape if it were possible to release ourselves from him can you suppose that I would have suffered what I have done that I would have submitted thus to humble myself to my own child and Mrs. St. Clair dropped a few tears but where is such a sum to be had asked her daughter as she thought how she had already been stripped of everything she could call her own I have nothing in my power I know you have nothing to give but you have only to ask and you will obtain my uncle can refuse you nothing and it is no such mighty matter in the future Countess of Rossville to borrow a few hundred pounds from a man to whom wealth is an absolute drug said she placing some paper before her and putting a pen into her hand you have only to write and I will dictate but the pen dropped from Gertrude's fingers no I cannot indeed I cannot be guilty of such meanness it is too degrading Mrs. St. Clair made no attempt to argue or remonstrate but waving her hand with a sort of desperate calmness she merely said I am answered leave me oh mama give me the paper you shall be obeyed tell me what I must say Mrs. St. Clair testified neither joy nor gratitude at this concession but immediately began to dictate the form of a letter to Mr. Adam Ramsey which her daughter implicitly followed scarcely conscious of what she wrote in her former mood she would have revolted from the duplicity and servility with which every line was fraught but in her present excitement of mind her powers of thinking were suspended and she was the mere passive instrument of her mother's will at length it was finished and as Mrs. St. Clair sealed it she looked at her watch it will be just in time for the letter box to the drawing room and we can put it into the box as we pass through the hall I cannot return to the company said her daughter I am unfit for society after such a scene as this I cannot dissemble you can at least it is to be hoped exercise some self control and not suffer yourself to be read and commented upon as I which chooses to look in your face happily it is one that even crying cannot spoil you have only to wipe away your tears and she applied her own handkerchief and see not a trace of them remains come I insist upon it and Gertrude suffered herself to be led to the drawing room the only person with whom she now felt any companionship was Mr. Lindsay there was a sort of protection in his presence which made her like to be near him some unknown evil hung over her from which it seemed as if he only could deliver her and when he entered the room and approached her she welcomed him with the only look of gladness that had brightened her face that day although Mr. Lindsay was pretty well aware of Mrs. St. Clair's real character he saw moreover that she had some strong motive for wishing to mislead him still her words had made some little impression upon him he gave her full credit for her anxiety to detach her daughter from Colonel Delmore but he was somewhat skeptical as to her sincerity in wishing to bestow her upon him he saw that Gertrude loved with all the delusion of romance like many a young enthusiast had mistaken her imagination for her mind and to have saved her from the fatal consequences of such infatuation he would have made any sacrifice but his nature was too noble to join in any stratagem with these feelings he drew near Gertrude but Mrs. St. Clair had contrived to get herself and her daughter so built in by Lady Betty her little table her large basket and her fat dog that it was impossible to engage in a separate conversation he could only talk to her therefore as he leaned on the back of her chair of common topics but that he did in a manner to render even these amusing and instructive without being either satirical or pedantic for he possessed an accurate knowledge of most subjects of science and literature and like all really well informed people he threw out ideas and information without the slightest design of instructing others or displaying his own acquirements insensibly Gertrude became interested in his conversation and did not observe the entrance of the rest of the gentlemen to she heard Mr. Del Morse in answer to a question from one of the voters certainly we may rely upon Frederick indeed he will probably return to Britain in the course of a very few months it was quite unexpected I believe his having to accompany the regiment as it was at one time settled that Colonel Brooks was to take the command and I've never heard it explained why he devolved it upon my brother but I understand he is to follow immediately and then unquestionably Frederick will get to reckon upon him confidently at the first mention of Colonel Del Morse name Gertrude had ceased to be conscious of anything else and as his brother went on she scarcely dared to breathe lest she should lose a syllable of a subject so interesting a very soul seemed to hang upon his words insignificant as they were and when he ended a deep flush of joy over spread her countenance and lighted up her eyes he will come then to clear himself from all unjust suspicions thought she and as the transporting thought rushed upon her mind she raised her eyes beaming with delight to Lindsay but they met his fixed upon her with an expression so grave so uncongenial with her own as instantly made her feel how little his sentiments were in unison with her own and a slight shade of displeasure crossed her face as she turned it away he said nothing but left his station which was soon taken by Mr. Del Morse to whose insipid verbiage she listened with sustained interest in hopes of hearing the subject renewed but nothing more was said Mr. Lindsay had disappeared and the evening wore away in all tedious manner end of section 52 section 53 of The Inheritance by Susan Edmond Stoonfarier this LibriVox recording is in the public domain volume 2 chapter 19 I am not a man of law that has my tongue to sell for a silver favor of the world John Knox the following day Mrs. Sinclair was confined to bed with a severe cold and rheumatism the consequences of her walk the preceding day all was anxious expectation on her part and Gertrude's for the answer from Mr. Ramsey but the post arrived and brought only a note announcing the day of her nuptials and inviting her aunt and cousin to be present at the celebration as Mr. Larkins had no vote a civil refusal was immediately returned this disappointment was only a passing nail as the thought suggested itself that Uncle Adam might not think it proper to trust the bill for 500 pounds to the post and she would not be able to send it by a special messenger by her mother's desire Gertrude therefore stationed herself at the window to watch the arrival of anyone likely to be the bearer of the important dispatch Knox sister and herself looked with more wistful eyes or was often recalled upon to declare what she saw and when at length she described the identical image belonging to the white bear rocking up the avenue not bluebeard himself sword in hand could have caused greater consternation this was an evil Mrs. Sinclair had never contemplated a personal inquiry set on foot by the awful Uncle Adam was an idea too dreadful to have entered into her imagination and when it was announced that Mr. Ramsey and Mrs. Sinclair alone her agitation was almost too much for her although trembling herself Gertrude yet tried to soothe her mother into calmness and having again and again assured her that she would not betray her that she would take the whole responsibility upon herself she left her to obey the summons but her heart bailed her when she reached her apartment where he was and she stood some minutes with her hand on the lock air she had courage to turn it at length she entered but dared not lift her eyes to the cold sour visage whose influence she felt even without seeing she tried to say something of trouble and kindness but in the agitation of her mind she could not put a sentence together she could only invite him to sit down and that she did with trepidation but instead of complying Mr. Ramsey drew from his pocket an old black leather pocket book from which he took Gertrude's letter and showing her the superscription asked is that your writing it is answered Gertrude in a voice scarcely articulate and we her aim free will and knowledge she could not reply but in silent confusion bent her head and you're in want of five hundred pound Gertrude's color rose to the deepest carnation while she faintly answered I am Mr. Ramsey gave something betwixt a hem and a groan she drew a paper from the very inmost pocket of his venerable repository and held it out to her then suddenly drawing back and looking sternly upon her he asked you're no gone through flee the country speak the truth Gertrude felt her very temples glow at this ignominious question and without speaking there was something in her look and gesture which dispel the old man's hasty suspicion there's the money then said he in a cold bitter tone Gertrude involuntarily shrunk from the ungracious looking hand that was scarcely extended to her take it right he in a still more angry voice take it but you man take this along with I would rather hey he parted with five thousand I five times five thousand then that such a letter should hey come fray you and tearing it in pieces he threw it into the fire oh do not say so Gertrude in great emotion and catching his hand as he was about to leave the room and say what I think I'm no on the folk that can say a thing and think another I'm disappointed in you yet if you knew if the circumstances Mr. Ramsey shook his head I I circumstances that's I the cry but they mom be ill circumstances that need all this concealment even fray you're a mother the time may perhaps come chred Miss Sinclair in increasing agitation when I shall be able to convince you that I am not to blame in the meantime if you will trust me dinner think it's the money I care for interrupted Mr. Ramsey I value that five hundred pound name mare than if it were five hundred chucky stains but I'll tell you what I value I valued you and I valued your truth and your openness and your downrightness and I'm disappointed in you so do not judge so hardly of me criteria the time will come when you will think better of me the time a man three score and ten will no be very lying in this world we'll maybe meet name there but before we part there's a thing I'm on tell you trust me you'll nearby true friends nor true love nor true happiness oh any kind with money so beg and borrow and spend as you will but mind my words do not oh do not leave me in displeasure cried Gertrude bursting into tears as he was again moving away I feel on a displeasure against you I'm only vexed and mortified and disappointed I had ten I like into you but as the old saying says whenever you meet a mutual heart go comes between and makes them part it was gold that parted me free her that was all the world to me and it was a pleasure to me to like you for being like her but gold gold gold has parted us next Gertrude had been prepared to stand the burst of uncle Adams anger but there was something in his careless sorrow that went to her heart there is indeed a feeling expressably painful in added to the afflictions of the aged and heaping fresh sorrows upon the horny head many a bitter drop must they even the most prosperous have drank in the course of their long and weary pilgrimage and will be to the hand which would willingly pour fresh gall into the very dregs of their cup some thought such as this Phil Gertrude's heart even to overflowing my dear kind uncle quiet she as she again seized his hand and even pressed it to her lips with reverence while her tears dropped upon it oh that I could read my heart Mr. Ramsey like all costing people thought it necessary to be more severe as he felt himself getting soft it might soon be better worth reading than your letter but there need be nay mayor said about it let by gains be by gains will you forgive me I hate nothing to forgive I tell you I value the money nay mayor than the dirt beneath my feet but I'm vexed I'm mortified that you should have brought yourself to such straights already at least in mercy suspend your judgment that's impossible suspend my judgment that's ain oh your fashionable phrases you seem to think a man can suspend his judgment as he would hang up his hat I cannot help judging what comes to my a knowledge and I judge that for a Baron like you to want 500 pound without the knowledge of your own mother or any relation you hate can I be right it's no possible I'm on be a born idiot if I'm no fit to judge of that and your letter I want rather hay scrap at the move for my bread as I want hay black at paper to beg for a seller and taking up his little old bear shapeless beaver he was moving away Gertrude saw with grief it was in vain to attempt to clear herself in Mr. Ramsey's eyes he was evidently no less displeased at the demand then disgusted by the manner at which it had been made indeed in proportion as he despised money himself so he seemed to despise those who said any value upon it and while he literally looked upon his purse as trash nothing enraged him so much no direct attack upon it I'm very unhappy at having lost your good opinion Gertrude in a tone of deep dejection but nothing shall ever make me forget your kindness my dear dear uncle may God bless you Mr. Ramsey made no reply his heart yearned to the image of his beloved Lizzie and he was on the point not of taking her to his breast for that was a weakness he would have even in thought but of holding out his cold blue jointless hand and of recording his forgiveness he however checked himself as he thought of the magnitude of the offense and the encouragement it would be giving to that in his estimation the most heinous of all offenses extravagance with a sort of repressed wheel-wheel and a small wave of his hand he therefore moved on without betraying his emotion and seated himself in his old chaise satisfied that he had done his duty in discontent and sing vice by being as disagreeable as possible How rarely can we judge a people's hearts by their manners and how seldom do we see the manner suited to the action except in skillful or actors or untaught children how many a soft smile covers an unkind deed while it sometimes happens that we meet with acts of friendship from those who would be ready to bandy words with us as a dog but how much is it to be regretted when charity and goodwill thus assume the garb of enmity and when kind-hearted people convey their admonitions in a manner calculated to make us dislike the reprover even while we admit the justice of the reprover On the present occasion Mr. Ramsey's roughness and asparity produced no corresponding emotions in Gertrude's gentle heart she felt only regret and sorrow at having been the means of embittering the scanty measure of the old man's enjoyment and of having she feared forever forfeited his good opinion and affection End of section 53 Section 54 of the Inheritance by Susan Edmund Stoonfarier this LibriVox recording is in the public domain Volume 2, Chapter 20 Can I me veritable et d'une douce chose la fontaine but Mrs. Sinclair was in no mood to sympathize in the nature of her daughter's distress as her own joy at receiving the money seemed to absorb every other consideration There is still something for you to do Gertrude Love said she I had promised to have some conversation with Mr. Lindsey today but you see my situation and how unfit I am for such an exertion you will therefore represent it to him and at the same time convey to him my determination to meet him tomorrow coot, keel, coot Then reading, surprised in her daughter's countenance she added in a solemn tone Gertrude, whatever has appeared strange and mysterious in my conduct toward you I am now going to confide to him Will that satisfy you? Is it possible? exclaimed Mrs. Sinclair in an accent of astonishment and pleasure then I am sure all will be right Mr. Lindsey appears to have made very rapid strides in your good graces set her mother with a look of displeasure yesterday you seemed to me to be scarcely upon speaking terms well although I am no great admirer scarcely a believer in platonics in general yet there may be exceptions where there is methodism in the case you may therefore indulge in a sentimental religious flirtation if you will though I must always think that her best friend must be her mother at any rate she will be cautious how she talks of her mother and suffers others to do it you have simply to deliver my message and beware of all comments now give me my writing materials light that taper and leave me accustomed as she was to her mother's crooked policy even in the mirror's trifles Gertrude's mind misgave her that something very falsely at the bottom of this pretended confidence repressed the painful suspicion that it was all a scheme to dupe him and deceive her she however sought her cousin for the purpose of delivering her message but it was not without embarrassment she repeated it and she thought she read out in distrust in the manner in which she received it without expressing their mutual thoughts both felt that sort of intuitive knowledge of what was passing in each other's mind which needed not the aid of words to impart nothing could be said indeed to serve any purpose beyond that of mere speculation and conjecture and although to many a mind there is nothing more delightful than that sort of guest gossip yet Mr. Lindsay's rose superior to any such petty enjoyment and he rather sought to divert Gertrude's from dwelling on so disagreeable a subject tomorrow came as tomorrow hitherto has done but as is equally common tomorrow fulfilled not the hopes of yesterday Mrs. St. Clair's malady had assumed a more serious aspect a physician was called in who pronounced her disorder to be an acute, rheumatic and nervous fever which though not of a malignant nature was likely to prove severe and tedious in its operation here could be no deception and as Gertrude was almost wholly confined to her mother's apartment Mr. Lindsay felt his presence was useless and therefore resolved on returning home but before he went he sought an interview with Mrs. St. Clair I fluttered myself, said he that before I lost sight of you again I should at least have had the satisfaction of knowing the nature of the evils you are exposed to but Mrs. St. Clair's situation puts an end to that hope for the present I trust I leave you in safety and I shall not stay long away but if in my absence anything should occur to alarm you promise that you will write to me instantly seeing her hesitate he quickly added I am not seeking to engage you for all concealment as much as you can do but must I say you require a protector I have my mother, my uncle said she faintly before she felt that her lips blighted when she named her mother and she shrunk from the idea of appealing to her uncle and besides added she I have my ma, solemn assurance that this person has left Scotland probably forever but the manner in which she said this shows how little reliance she placed on this assurance I cannot to you say what I think said Mr. Lindsey but will you then promise if ever you have the slightest reason to suppose you are again to encounter the insolence of that man and then as these soft mild eyes flashed fire as he spoke promise me then that you will instantly claim Lord Rossville's protection but Gertrude did not promise and she remained silent as it is continued he I scarcely know whether I am justified in withholding from him what I have witnessed oh do not dear Mr. Lindsey do not I need to breathe the syllable of what has passed to Lord Rossville or anyone else for my sake do not for your sake I would do much well then you give me your word do not urge me why should you involve yourself in trouble perhaps in danger for me already you have risked your life to save mine no leave me to my fate whatever it is I hate the word fate said Lindsey like chance it is a word easily pronounced but nothing more so I shall not leave you to anything vague and mystical as for me I am no dualist and besides this person's scarcity appears to be of that rank in society which would what is called entitled him to such satisfaction be assured therefore you will find me a bloodless champion but without some assurance from you I will not leave you unprotected Gertrude gave him her hand my dear generous cousin said she much affected by the interest he showed for her I promise that if ever I am again in difficulty and can have a course to your assistance I will more I cannot I dare not promise then with that I must be satisfied look upon me as your friend my dear cousin and let us leave the rest of heaven farewell Lindsay's absence caused a blank to Gertrude which she in vain tried to fill up for due and affectionate heart and refined taste what can supply the want of that social intercourse which is the very element of a soul nothing could be more pleased than this state of existence the only variety she experienced were in the quarrelous complaints of her mother the verbose herangs of Lord Rossville the senseless questions of Lady Betty and the twice told compliments of Mr. Delmore is this life such how different from what I had pictured it to myself and thus I am absorbed in this is life but Gertrude only felt what all persons of acute sensibility have felt in similar situations that to be no part of anybody is as to be nothing end of section 54 section 55 of the inheritance by Susan Edmundsdern Farrier this LibriVox recording is in the public domain volume 2 chapter 21 Avant and quit my sight let the earth hide the Macbeth the dreary monotony of a snowstorm now reigned in all its morbid solemnity all nature was shrouded in one common covering neither heavens nor earth offered any variety to the wearied sight any sound to the listening ear all with sameness and stillness twas as the pulse of life stood still of time congealed the sound per chance broke the dreary silence that reigned it fell with that dull muffled tone which only denoted the still burdened atmosphere nothing can be more desolate and depressing than this exterior of nature to those who assembled under one roof are yet strangers to those far side enjoyments that home born happiness springs from social intercourse here were no intimate delights no play of fancy no pleasures to deceive the hours and embellished existence here was nothing to palliate dullness nothing to give time a zest nothing to fill the void of an unfurnished brain there was stupor of mind without tranquility of soul restlessness of body without animation of spirit Gertrude felt her heart droop beneath the oppressive gloom which surrounded her and thought even actual suffering must be preferable to this total stagnation of all enjoyment but all human things a day in darkness sinks a day to light restores it was drawing towards the close of a day when the snow had fallen without intermission but was now beginning to abate Lord Rossville stood at his drawing room window speculating on the aspect of the clouds and predicting a change of weather when he suddenly uttered an exclamation which attracted the whole of the family to where he stood a huge black object was dimly discernible entering the avenue and dragging its ponderous length towards the castle but what was its precise nature the still falling snow prevented their ascertaining but suddenly the snow seized the clouds rolled away and a red brassy glare of the setting sun fell abruptly on this moving phenomena and disclosed to view a stately full-plumed house there was something so terrific yet so picturesque in its appearance as it plowed its way through waves of snow its sable plumes and gilded skulls knotting and grinning in the now livid glimmering of the fast sinking sun that all stood transfixed with alarm and amazement at length the prodigy drew near followed by two attendants it drew up at the grand entrance the servants gathered round one of the men began to remove the end board that threshold of death this is is gassed the earl as he tried to throw open the window and called to his servants but the window was frozen and there his lordship could adopt another expedient his fury was turned from the dead to the living adopted out not a slovenly unhandsome corpse betwixt the wind and his nobility but the warm sentient though somewhat discomfited figure of Miss Pratt all uttered some characteristic exclamation but lord Rossville's tongue clothed to the very roof of his mouth and he in vain labored to find words suited occasion whether the contents of the hearse should be permitted to enter his castle walls from such a conveyance was a doubt in itself so weighty as for the moment to overpower every faculty of mind and body true to refuse admission to one of the blood of Rossville a cousin to himself the cousin of many noble families the aunt of Mr. White all would be a strong measure yet to sanction such a violation of all propriety to suffer such an example of disrespect to the living of decorum to the dead to receive into his presence a person just issued from a hearse who could tell what distemper she might not bring in her train that thought decided the matter his lordship turned round to pull the bell and in doing so found both hands locked in those of mispride the shock of a mantrap is probably faint compared to that which he experienced at finding himself in the grasp of the fair and all powers of resistance failed under the energy of her hearty shake well my lord what do you think of my traveling equipage my Jerusalem dilly as Anthony White calls it upon my word you must make much of me for a pretty business I've had to get here I may well say I've come through thick and thin to get to you at one time I assure you I thought you would never have seen me but in my coffin and a great mercy it is it's only in a hearse I fancy I'm the first that ever thought themselves in luck to get into one but however I think I'm still luckier and having got well out of it ha ha ha ha mispride he the Earl as with a lever well you shall hear all about it by and by in the meantime I must beg the favor of you to let them in put up their hearse and horses for the night for it's perfectly impossible for them to get a step farther and indeed I promise that if they would but bring me safe here you would make them all welcome to a night's lodging poor creatures this was a pitch of assurance so far beyond anything Lord Rossville had ever contemplated that his words felt like stones in his throat and he strove but strove in vain to get them up and hurl them at prats audacious jaws indeed all ordinary words and known language would have been inadequate for his purpose only some mighty terror compelling compound or some magical anathema something which would have caused her to sink into the ground or have made her quit the form of a woman and take that of an insect would have spoke the feelings of his breast while his lordship was thus struggling like one under the influence of the nightmare for utterance Miss Pratt called to one of the servants who just then entered Jackson you'll be so good as see these men well taken care of and I hope Bishop will allow a good feed to the horses poor beasts and Miss Pratt at length bolted the earl Miss Pratt this conduct of yours is of so extraordinary so altogether unparalleled a nature that you may well say that my lord unparalleled indeed if you knew all there's eight horses and four men said Lady Betty who had been pleasing her fancy by counting them whose burial is it it's Mr. McVeaties the great distiller I'm sure I much obliged to him for if it hadn't been for him poor man I might have been stiff and stark by this time and Miss Pratt busy herself and taking off her snowshoes and turning and chafing herself before the fire Miss Pratt again began the earl mustering all his energies Miss Pratt it is altogether inconceivable and inexplicable to me how you or anyone else could possibly so far forget what was due to themselves and me as to come to my house in a manner so wholly unprecedented so altogether unwarrantable so so so perfectly unjustifiable I say how any person or persons could thus presume a burst of laughter from Miss Pratt here broke in upon the earl's harangue my dear Lord Rossville I beg your pardon but really the notion of my presuming to come in a hearse is too good upon my word it's a piece of presumption few people would be guilty of if they could help it I assure you I felt humble enough when I was glad to creep into it I repeat presumed Miss Pratt cried his lordship now fairly kindled into eloquence to presume to bring to my house and equip each in attendance of of the most luck difference description and father to presume to expect that I am to permit the hearse of Mr. McVitty the distiller the the democratic distiller eight horses and four men to to transform Rossville Castle into an in a care of Vansara of the very lowest description a charnel house a receptacle for vehicles employed for the foulest the vilest of the most unseemly of all purposes Jackson desire those people with their carriage and horses to quit my grounds without one moments delay my dear lord Rossville stop Jackson bless my heart you're not going to turn away the people at this time of night only look how it's snowing in the skies black as pitch there's neither man nor beast fit to travel a foot this night Jackson I'm sure you must be sensible that it's perfectly impossible for them to find their way now Jackson who had like is better as felt considerable on we during the storm and rather rejoiced at the last of any visitors however inferior to himself in rank in station confirm the assertion with all due respect but to little purpose at all events and whatever it may be the consequence that is master they certainly can and indeed positively must return by the road which they have recently traversed they made just as well attempt to fly as to go back the way they came a pretty fight they had to get through I only wish you had seen it the horses up to their shoulders more than once in the snow even then and it's now snowing ten times worse than ever so I leave you to judge how they are to drag a hearse back nine miles at this time of night here Jackson re-entered with a manifest from the hearse drivers and company stating that they had been brought two miles and a half out of their way under promise of being provided in quarters for the night and that it was now impossible for them to proceed it will be a pretty story I'm landed in a lawsuit Creadmus Pratt in great alarm as the Earl was about to reiterate his orders and they will make a fine noise in the county I can tell you Mr. Delmore who had been out investigating matters here struck in and having remarked that it might be an unpopular measure recommended that Mr. McVitae sweet should be accommodated for the night with strict charges to depart by dawn the following morning the Earl though with great reluctance was prevailed upon to agree to this arrangement end of section 55 section 56 of the inheritance by Susan Edmund Stoonfarer this LibriVox recording is in the public domain volume 2 chapter 22 our life is but a pilgrim and every blast brings forth a fear and every fear of death quarrels Ms. Pratt having carried her point and dried, warmed fed and cherished her person in all possible ways now commenced the narrative of what she called her unparalleled adventures but as has been truly said there are always two ways of telling a story and Ms. Pratt's biographer and herself are by no means at one as to the motives which led to this extraordinary expedition. Ms. Pratt said forth that she had been living most comfortably at Skin Flint Cottage where she had been most kindly treated and much pressed to prolong her visit but she had taken an anxious fit about her good friends at Rossville. She had had a great dreaming about them overnight before last and she could not rest till she had seen them all. She had therefore borrowed the Skin Flint carriage and set out at the risk of her life but the horses had stuck in the snow etc etc etc Ms. Pratt's biographer on the other hand asserts that Ms. Pratt in the course of circulation had landed at Skin Flint Cottage which she sometimes used but never as a resting place. Here however she had been taken prisoner by the snowstorm and confined for a week in a small house full of children some in measles, some in scarlet fevers, some in hooping coughs. The only healthy individuals, two strong unruly boys just broke loose from school for the holidays. The fair was bad, her bed was hard, her blankets heavy, her pillow's few, her curtains thin and her room which was next to the nursery to use her own expression, smoked like a Khileji. To sum up the whole it was a retreat of Ms. Becky Dugudz and at this very time Ms. Becky was in such requisition that it was resolved to send the carriage for her in the double hope that as Rossville Castle was in the way their guest would avail herself of the opportunity of taking her departure. Accordingly a pair of old stiff, starved, super annuated horses were yoked to a large heavy family coach to which Ms. Pratt joyfully betook herself even in the very teeth of the storm. But the case was a desperate one for she had received several broad hints about one of the children in the hooping cough Charles Fox by name having taken a fancy to sleep with her in consequence of her having in an watery fit of generosity presented it with a peppermint drop. But all these minute particulars Ms. Pratt passed over which occasion some little discrepancy betwixt her self and her faithful biographer but from this point they can now proceed hand in hand. The old horses tugged their way through the snow most manfully till they came to cockle stone top mure and there it lay so deep as to baffle their utmost exertions. After every other alternative had been tried in vain they remained no other than to leave the carriage and for Ms. Pratt her green bag and the coachman to mount the horses and proceed to the nearest habitation. But the snow felt thick and fast Ms. Pratt could not keep her seat on the bare back of a huge stiff plough horse whose every movement threatened dislocation if not dissolution and even her dauntless spirit was sinking beneath the horrors of her situation when as she expressed it by mere dint of good luck up came Mr. McVidey's horse drawn by six stout horses who had been living for the last two days at heck and manger in Mr. McVita's well-filled stables. After a little parlay and many promises they were induced nothing loath indeed to turn out of the way and deposit Ms. Pratt and her bag at Rossville castle but even this account failed to steal the tumult in the Earl's breast there was something in having a hearse in the hearse that Mr. McVita the radical distiller thus forced within his walls he could not away with death even in its most dignified attitude with all its proudest trophies would still have been an appalling spectacle to Lord Rossville but in its present vulgar and almost basque form it was altogether insupportable. Death is indeed an awful thing whatever aspect it assumes the king of terrors gives to other attributes their power of terrifying the thunder's roar the lightning's flash the below's roar the earthquake shock all derived their dread sublimity from death all are but the instruments of his resistless sway from these and even from his more ordinary emissaries Lord Rossville alerting fear had taken possession of his mind and he could not divest himself of the train of ideas which had been excited by beholding in horrid array death's cavalcade approaches dwelling he passed a restless night he thought of what the county would say and what he should say to the county he thought of whether he would not be justified in banishing this Pratt forever from his presence when the first faint gray streak of light appeared he rang his bell to inquire whether the funeral procession had departed but a fresh fall of snow during the night had placed the castle and hers in a complete state of blockade he rose and opened the window to ascertain the fact but nothing was to be seen but a fast falling blinding snow he next went to the door but there the snow lay six feet deep he returned to bed but not to sleep and when a servant entered in the morning he found his master a lifeless course when she came who can tell whether from cold mental disquiet or a reversible decree when hour of death is come let none ask when so why end of section 56 section 57 of the inheritance by Susan Edmund Stundfarer this LibriVox recording is in the public domain volume 2 chapter 23 and feel I death no joy from thought of the young Gertrude was now Countess of Rossville and how often had her heart bounded at the anticipation how sleight of things seems the life or death of an individual to whom we are united by no ties of affection when merely thought of as to be or not to be and death and his awful attributes are not made manifest to our senses but how sad and solemn when we come to witness even in those most alien to us the last struggle the dread change the total extinction of mortality as youthful Countess looked on her uncle's cold remains she forgot all her dreams of vanity and wept in real sadness as she thought how many a painful emotion of anger and disappointment she had excited in that now still unconscious form oh how bitter are the upgradings which come to us from the lips of the dead with that the living could lay the two tardy reflection to heart Gertrude could not blame herself but she sorrowed in the sorrow of a warm ingenuous heart that she should ever have offended the pale and peaceful image stretched before her but tears those shed in earnest are alias often shed in vain as from the wing no scar the sky retains the parted wave no furrow from the keel so dies in human hearts the thought of death when that thought is not embalmed by affection the funeral obsequies were celebrated with a pomp of heraldry a display of state which would if ought on earth could have brightened the dull cold eye of the dead to have witnessed the earl had left no settlements he had destroyed his original ones and then planning others of a totally different nature which had he lived would certainly have been put in execution to the other exclusion of Lady Rossville unless as the wife of Mr. Delmore Gertrude wished for nothing more ardently than for an opportunity of coming to an explanation with that gentleman and at once putting an end to the delusion under which he evidently labored but there was so much formal politeness so little of the energy of passion in his addresses that she felt it would be like anticipating were she to appear to look upon him in the light of a lover she was therefore obliged to endure the annoyance of his little punctilious entities which though forever claiming her notice were yet too vapid and insignificant either to please or offend they were merely flat stale and unprofitable from these she was soon however unexpectedly released a few days after the earl's funeral and express arrived with the intelligence of the death of his cousin the Marquis of Haslington he had died of the breaking of a blood vessel and in so doing had rendered Mr. Delmore presumptive heir to the dukedom as his presence was now required in the south he immediately set about preparations for his departure but previous to setting off he sought an interview with Lady Rossville for the purpose of expressing his regret of being under the necessity of leaving her at such a time and his assurances of returning as speedily as the nature of the mournful circumstances under which he was called away would permit concluding with the hope that whenever propriety sanctioned the fulfilling of his late lamented uncle's intentions his fair cousin would at once testify her respect for the wishes of the dead and complete the happiness of the living however much Gertrude had longed for this opportunity she now felt as every delicate mind must feel in a similar situation that is a nervous and a painful thing to tell a person face to face I don't like you Dr. Fell the reason why I cannot tell but I don't like you Dr. Fell for however it may be expressed that is generally the substance of a refusal the words must be rendered however in some shape or other and collecting herself she with that self-possession which in such cases speaks even plainer than words expressed her regret at the misunderstanding that has so long been allowed to exist assured him that the Earl had been perfectly aware of her sentiments they were such as made it impossible she ever could do honor to her uncle's intentions politician as he was Mr. Delmore could not conceal the surprise and peak with which he received this communication he had all along been led to consider his union with the heiress of Rossville as a subtle point he had therefore looked upon her as his destined bride fortunately a very beautiful charming elegant girl to whom it was his part to be more than usually polite and attentive and now at the very moment when he had extended his hand surprised like a second Ixion he found he had grasped a cloud but whatever were his feelings on the occasion he had too much pride to express anything beyond mere surprise at the very awkward and unaccountable misapprehension which had thus involved both parties in so unpleasant a dilemma he certainly could not accuse her treat of having buried with the circumstances of her fortune since his own was now to all appearance much more brilliant than at the other acquaintance but it was evident he thought himself extremely ill used by her and therefore took a very distant and stately farewell when informed of Mr. Delmore's dismissal Mrs. Sinclair's indignation against her daughter was no less violent than unaccountable you were born to be my ruin was her first exclamation to refuse situated as you are an alliance that would have secured you against the possibility of you know not what you have done infatuated that you are and she pays the chamber with a disordered mean while Gertrude too much accustomed to her mother's wayward moods to attach any peculiar meaning to her words in silence allowed the storm to take its course but as is commonly the case with unjust displeasure it took such a wide range and branched out into so many ramifications of anger and invective that labor dire and weary though it would be to attempt to follow her through all the labyrinths of her ill humor Mrs. Sinclair was indeed a riddle to solve although not quite so hypocritical as to pretend to be inconsolable at the death of the Earl yet certain was that event had agitated her in no common manner or degree and her daughter's exaltation which for so many years had been the sole object of her ambition seemed now that it was obtained to have lost all its value in her eyes the only visible effect it had yet produced had been to render her more than ever violent irritable and capricious she is still kept her own apartment she is to see anybody on the plea of her health was restless and dissatisfied and in short showed all the symptoms of a mind ill at ease End of Section 57 Section 58 of The Inheritance by Susan Edmund Steunferrier this LibriVox recording is in the public domain Volume 2 Chapter 24 Love there is no spirit under heaven that works with such delusion Ben Johnson the want of a will is a desideratum which invariably causes disappointment to many and expectant perhaps on the late occasion no one felt more chagrined at the failure of the Earl's than Miss Pratt although there was little difference in their ages yet from being about lighter and more active nature she had always looked upon herself as at least 20 years younger and had all along settled in her own mind that he was to die long before her and from having at first contemplated the possibility of his leaving her a small legacy she had next considered it as highly probable for something very handsome and at length all her doubts had resolved themselves into the absolute certainty of his doing something highly to his own credit not to do her justice that she looked to it so much for her own grandisement as for something to bequeath to Anthony White in his necessities as she declared that in these times Anthony found he was pinched enough as 3000 a year Miss Pratt could not therefore reconcile herself to this desideratum but spent her days in rummaging the house and expressing her amazement which far from lessening seemed daily to increase that the will for a will there must be should be missing and her nights in dreaming that the will have been found the will she was certain would cast up yet nobody knew poor Lord better than she did she might say they had been like brother and sister all their lives and nobody that knew him were the well-meaning man that he was could ever believe that he would go out of the world and leave things all at sixes and sevens not so much as 10 guineas even for a morning ring to his oldest friends and nearest relations the thing was quite impossible she only wished she had access to his repositories she was sure she would soon bring something to light some bit paper or letter or jotting or something or another just to show what his intentions were and she was sure Lady Rosville would willingly act up to it whatever it was for he was a just upright friendly liberal well-principled well-meaning kind-hearted man an honorable minded man with a great deal of strong natural affection he had always and upon all occasions shown himself her steady friend and well-wisher etc etc etc there was one drawer in particular the right hand drawer of his writing table the end next the window she had several times when she had occasion to speak to him in his study found him busy there poor man the very last time she saw him there he was working amongst some papers in that very drawer she wanted had been well searched and so on Gertrude had no doubt but that do search had been made there as in other places by the constituted authorities and she had too much respect for the late Earl's feelings when living to suffer miss Pratt to invade his repositories now that he was dead but weary of hearing the same changes rung upon this drawer she one day suddenly resolved to examine it and some other of her uncle's private repositories for that purpose she repaired to his apartment and began her scrutiny it was with a feeling of solemnity she displays the relics of the departed and sought in vain for any indication of his will or intentions nothing of the kind was to be seen for nothing of the kind was in existence only bundles of bills and packets of letters were contained in the drawer which miss Pratt had vainly flattered her self held her future fortunes the Countess was about to close at winter I was arrested by one of those packets it was titled correspondence with Colonel F. Delmore private number one can this be the correspondence thought she in which the happiness of my life depends and her color ebbed and flowed as the contending emotions of hope and fear rushed over her heart and am I justified and thus stealing on the secrets of the dead is it right is it honorable she paused yet my all of happiness is that state why should I hesitate and with a trembling hand she unfolded the copy of a letter from Lord Rossville written it seemed on his first discovering the attachment that existed it was very angry and very wordy and the substance of it was calling upon his nephew instantly to resign all pretensions to miss St. Clair's hand and to authorize him to annul any engagements subsisting between them upon pain of his most serious displeasure Gertrude's heart throb violently as she turned to the answer to this in the well known careless elegant hand of her lover he was short expressed the deepest regret of having incurred his uncle's displeasure pleaded the excess of his passion as the only excuse and declared in the most unequivocal terms the utter impossibility there was in his ever complying with his lordship's commands by relinquishing that which was dear to him than life years of delight burst from Gertrude's eyes as she read this decided a vow of unalterable attachment how could I be so baseless ever to doubt I'm generous that I am was her first exclamation and in the exaltation of the moment she felt as though worlds could never again for a moment shake her faith but there were more letters to peruse the next in order was another from lord Rossville it was in part a repetition of what her uncle had said to herself when he declared his intention of disinheriting her and settling the estates upon Mr. Delmore but his resolutions were still more strongly expressed and fully detailed in the letter and he concluded by an offer of instantly liquidating his nephew's debts and settling 10,000 pounds upon him provided he would come under an engagement never to marry miss St. Clair this then is the test thought Gertrude and with a beating heart she opened another letter in Colonel Delmore's handwriting and read as follows my dear uncle it was only on my return here late last night that I found your letter and I have passed a sleepless night ruminating on the heart-rending alternative you offer to me where my own interest solely at stake I should not hesitate a single moment but the thought of reducing the adored object of my affections to poverty of being the means of bereaving her of the possessions of her ancestors and depriving her of your favor is so overwhelming that I find myself quite unable to come to any conclusion at present heaven knows how much I could endure for her sake but it is torture to me to think of her sacrificing so much for mine yet to resign her forever is distraction I repeat it is impossible for me all it wants to resolve upon a point on which the happiness of my life is that issue pray allow me a few days to reform my resolution and believe it is my most earnest wish to gratify you in all possible ways the regiment is on the point of embarking for Gibraltar but I expect Brooks to take the command and that I shall obtain leave to remain at home for the present you shall hear from me again whenever I can summon resolution to cast the die meantime you will of course suspend all father proceedings believe me my dear uncle yours with a sister steam and affection FMH Delmore PS you may rely upon my secrecy and I agree with you that it is better George should not be made acquainted with what has passed at present here was confirmation strong as proofs of holy writ to the generous confiding heart of the Countess yes it was upon her account that he hesitated it was for her happiness that he was tempted to sacrifice his own how little did he know her if he deemed that wealth and grandeur could ever stand in competition with his affection that the peculiar treasure of her soul that the pearl of great price the rest was it not all mere earthly draws without that what were rank and fortune to her but to share them to bestow them upon the chosen of her heart was indeed a blissful privilege and the whole tenor of her mind came bright as the first blush of the sun gilded air impatient to vindicate the honor of her lover she hastened to her mother's apartment she found Mrs. St. Clair in the same posture in which she had so frequently observed her since the Earl's death seated at a writing table her head resting on one hand a pen in the other as if meditating how to begin a letter which after all this preparation did not appear yet to have been commenced cheeks glowing and eyes sparkling with triumph and delight Gert to replace the packet in her hands read these mamas that she in a tone of exaltation and if ever you had a doubt surely these must satisfy you Mrs. St. Clair took the letters and read them in silence then as she folded up the last she said with a sarcastic smile my doubts are indeed ended I am now confirmed in what I have all along suspected Colonel Delmore loved you from the first as the heiress of Rossville I have no doubt he will adore you Gertrude was struck dumb her mother went on it is evident to me it would be to anyone in their senses that the only struggle here is caused by self interest he like many other people doubted whether Lord Rossville really possessed the power of disinheriting you and he therefore prudently evades the question until he has ascertained that point it would have been selling his right indeed for a mess of money to have resigned the heiress to twenty thousand a year for a paltry ten thousand pounds and the payment of his tailor's bill but on the other hand it is enough said Lady Rossville as with a burning cheek and in a tone of wounded feeling she collected the letters and was turning to leave the room no Gertrude it is not enough quite her mother pointing to her to be seated sit down and listen to me at least with calmness if not with respect I will not see her in silence her daughter seated herself in silence but evidently struggling with her feelings I cannot see you as I do the dupe of an artful unprincipled man without making an effort to open your eyes to the dangers of your situation yet I own I almost despair when I behold you thus willfully closing them against the light which would carry conviction to any mind that was not the slave of its own that it is solely as the heiress of Rossville you are the object of Colonel Del Morse attachment he hesitate about reducing the adored object of his affections to poverty he distracted at the thoughts of a reading her of the possessions of her ancestors stuff who that knows anything of the character of the man would for an instant believe that he would hesitate about sacrificing the whole world were to vote his own interest Gertrude I would not unnecessarily pain you but I consider it my duty to save you from those snares I see set for you why should you distrust me what interest can I have in deceiving you my child I know not I cannot tell said the Countess with a sigh if I am distrustful she stopped but Mrs. St. Clair felt the approach implied in her look and accent is I who have made you so you would you can distrust me your guide your companion your friend your mother Mrs. St. Clair's voice here faltered with emotion although you cannot even doubt the faith of one who but a few months since was an utter stranger to you but in those few months what have I not learned said Lady Rossville in much agitation enough to make me sometimes doubt the evidence of my own senses certainly enough to teach me to distrust even my own mother Mrs. St. Clair's face crimsoned beware how you provoke me Gertrude with much vehemence I will endure no taunts or reproaches from you for with one word I could lay all your romantic dreams in the dust although as Countess of Rossville you may wish to forget what is due to me as your mother I will not relinquish my claims to you as my daughter I will be obeyed continued she with increasing violence and I command you from henceforth to think of that man then you commend me to do what is impossible said the Countess giving way to tears oh mama why will you force me to this alternative why must I be accounted rebellious undutiful because I cannot see as you see and think as you think I call heaven to witness I would ever render to you the respect the reverence of a child but I cannot know I cannot yield you the submission of a slave and where is the child who owes to a parent what you owe to me demanded Mrs. St. Clair warmly where is the child possessed of such an inheritance of rank of power of riches of beauty of talents and where is the mother who would not feel as I do at seeing them all sacrifice to the cupidity of an artful and principled man and is it because I possess all these advantages that I am to be denied the privilege of the poorest and humblest asked Lady Rossville her voice balking with emotion of what value to me are all those gifts if I may not share them with those I love much rather would I forgo them all than not indulge your own weak wayward childish fancy cried her mother with indignation this is not to be borne how shall I tear that bandage from your eyes if you doubt me will you credit the testimony of your friend your counselor your platonic admirer Mr. Lindsey I respect in esteem Mr. Lindsey said the countess but I will not adopt his prejudices will you believe the voice of the world then I already know all that the world will tell me he is thoughtless extravagant imprudent erring it may be in many things but all that he has told me himself such he once was till till he loved Mrs. St. Clair grown then whose testimony will you admit since you reject mine you reject Mr. Lindsey's you reject that of the whole world I will receive none said Lady Rossville mildly but firmly erring perhaps faulty he may have been but to doubt that he loves me there I will receive no one's testimony but his own then you are lost exclaim Mrs. St. Clair in violent agitation but it must not shall not be you dare not marry without my consent without the consent of she stopped I tell you if I am to be ruled by any authority it must be solely by my mother's said Gertrude proudly no other being has or ever can have the right to control me in this point once before I promise that I would form no engagement until I had attained the age of 21 I'm now willing to repeat it but in the meantime my preference must be left free and now mama let us end this strife it may be my misfortune to differ from you do not owe do not let that difference divide us I will be always yours in affection if not in sentiment and she would have embraced her but her mother repelled her such a compromise is a mere mockery said she with bitterness but I too am sick of altercation such as it is then for the present must suffice let me trust in heaven that your delusion may be dispelled ere it be too late if it is a delusion I too join in the prayer said the countess but more in the tone of lofty assurance than a lowly supplication this contest with her mother only served to strengthen Gertrude as violence invariably does in her own opinions there was something too in the very suspense calculator to give a play to her imagination and fascinate the youthful heart far more than any sober certainty of waking bliss could have done she would have shrunk from acknowledging even to herself that she harbored a doubt but how many a stranger feeling mingles unknown to ourselves with the home-born sentiments of our hearts end of section 58 section 59 of the inheritance by Susan Edmund Stoonfarer this LibriVox recording is in the public domain volume 2 chapter 25 with an old bachelor how things miscarry what shall I do go hang myself or marry Horace there was a duty which Gertrude was particularly anxious to discharge and that was the debt she had incurred to Mr. Adam Ramsey having procured a bill for the money she therefore ordered her carriage one day and having contrived to elude the curiosity of Lady Betty and the vigilance of Miss Pratt she set out alone in hopes of making her peace at any rate of relieving her mind from the weight of pecuniary obligation a thought had begun but just begun consequently both earth and atmosphere were in that raw chill dubious state which combines all the discomforts of foul and frosty weather and even in the narrow precincts of Uncle Adam's parterre both were displayed in perfection the snow though soft lay deep betwixt his house and the little gate which separated him from the road no attempt had been made to clear it away or open a passage and an avalanche which had fallen from the roof of the house lay undisturbed upon the steps and defectually blocked up the door altogether it had a desolate uninhabited look different from the neatly scraped paths and sanded steps belonging to the houses on either side and Gertrude began to fear she knew not what from this desolate exterior meanwhile the footman having with some difficulty contrived to wade up to the door knocked loud and long in all the energy of insolence and ill humor but no answer was returned again and again the summons was repeated in a manner enough to have raised even the drowsy porter in Macbeth but with no better success at length the servant turned away in despair there is nobody within my lady but at that moment his lady's eye was caught by a view of the back of Uncle Adam's wig as its queue hung in expressive silence over a chair in the parlor it retained its posture however so immovably that it seemed as though it required a touch of galvanism to ascertain whether it were suspended from a dead or a living skull alarmed at the immobility of this appendage of Uncle Adam's brain Lady Rossville hastily called to have the carriage door opened and without exactly knowing what she would or could do she stepped out and made the best of her way through the snow towards the house scarcely had she touched the door when the carriage door opened as if impelled by the invisible hands of the white cat herself no invisible hands were there however for there stood Uncle Adam in propria with his pigtail and his cold blue radish looking fingers come in come in righty in no very inviting tone as Gertrude stood for a moment transfixed with astonishment I'm sure this is no weather to be standing at open doors and violently shutting it he led the way to his little parlor a dead fire a dirty heart and the remains of our wretched breakfast were the only traces of civilization to be described I was afraid something was the matter said Gertrude as she entered my servant knocked repeatedly but could get no answer but I am happy to find it was a false alarm and that I have the pleasure of seeing you well my dear uncle Mr. Ramsey Hemd you may see some things the matter or the things would not be standing there till this time of day there is nobody in the hoose but in the cell and I was me gone to play the flunky do the idle puppies of yours pointing to the countess dashing likey as he strutted before the window and I never wished to see only body at my door that cannot chap at it themselves then muttering between his teeth fools should nay hay chap and sticks he seemed to recover a little at having thus vented his venom in ignominious epithets supplied to his niece and her spruce serving man Lady Rossville was much at a loss how to proceed at no time did she perfectly comprehend the breath of Uncle Adam's dialect but on that present occasion he was more than usually unintelligible and as she could neither divine what was meant by fools nor chap and stick she prudently passed them over and proceeded to business I'm come to repay my debt to you said she in her sweetest manner that is the pecuniary part of it but your generous trust and confidence in me I never can repay my dear uncle will you accept of my warmest my most grateful thanks for your kindness and she put the money enclosed in a pocket book of her own embroidering into his hands and affectionately pressed them as she did so and what has that to do with the man to Mr. Ramsey I'm the souvenir with no gracious aspect that is a pocket book I've worked on purpose for you and I hope you will keep it for my sake we'll I may do say though it's nonsense to give me the like of a foolish things and taking out the bill he carefully wrapped the pocket book in a piece of paper and opening an old bureau that stood in the corner of the room deposited it in a little drawer then cautiously locking it returned to his seat next to know Barron the best things ready paying and I'm glad to see you hay that muckled discretion and his features gradually relaxed into a more benign expression as he slowly took out his spectacles to peruse the bill when suddenly resuming their usual stormy cats what's this why is the interest for my money in great confusion at this unthought of demand Gertrude apologized by saying she had been so little accustomed to money transactions that she had entirely forgot that part of the claim I think it's time you was learning something of the val money knew that you've learned who to spend and to borrow say readily I didn't care or as butthole about it for my own part but I like to see folk can what they're about and give what body they're due and taking up an old black and stump of a penny began to cast up his account on the back of the bill then showing it to Lady Rosfield there's what I was entitled to fray you but I tell you I didn't want it I only want to make you sensible of what you're about Gertrude acknowledged the justice of his admonition and having thanked him for it she was again taken into favor but it was a short duration hey now you got your feet what wet that snot sitting in a complacent tone then glancing at her little silk slippers all his wrath the revived Bonnie like feet to be sure to be widened through the snot I thought you had my sense then to have come with such daft like things in such weather there are like our dancing shool pumps and sensible walking shoes and Uncle Adam walked up and down in great discomposure his own huge leather buckets creaking at every step I did not know all I had to encounter else I certainly should have provided better for it said Gertrude smiling but I'm not at all subject to cold so don't be alarmed on that account and when your servant comes in she will dry my shoes at your kitchen fire you will sit a while before you see on a servant of mine I hey nay servant and the kitchen fires black oot no servant and no fire exclaimed lady Rossville Horace drug it such a novel good heavens what a situation how what has occasion this just the occasion is that impudent thief that's been with me these two years thought proper to own a marriage with a schoon drill oh a dragoon that she nearsaw to within this month and what do you think of her assurance she had the impudence to tell me last night that she but to leave my service immediately unless I what by her husband's discharge tack him into my service and settle an annuity on her for like our dars say there near was the like I did that was certainly very audacious said Gertrude and she ought at least to have remained until you had procured another servant her remain do you think I would left myself at the discretion of such a slut as that I just took her by the shooters and the outside the door for her answer settle an annuity upon her I've settled her where a vengeance tack a dragoon into my service I would just assume tack the hangman into my service what a picture of lonely old age thought Gertrude left at the mercy of a mercenary unprincipled servant destitute even of the necessaries of life how dismal even the unfortunate peculiarity of his temper which kept him aloof from all fellowship with others she viewed as indeed it was an additional misfortune and she felt anxious to alleviate the wretchedness of his state by every means in her power but to have insinuated to uncle Adam that his comfort at all depended either upon a servant or a fire would have been an insult he would have resented accordingly you must come to Rossville with me my dear uncle said the countess taking his hand with her sweetest look and accent of entreaty me gang to Rossville exclaimed Mr. Ramsey with a sudden start of horror I'll do nay such thing what would tack me to Rossville to pay me a visit and give me the pleasure of seeing you in my own house you know you must visit me some time and this is so good an opportunity that indeed I will not excuse you I suppose you think I cannot contrive to live forward and 20 hours by myself but you are much must stand if you think I depend for my comfort either on man or woman at all rate there's a Tyler and his wife down by there very discreet folk that would be ready to do only thing I wanted so you need name that's your heed a boot me I have no doubt you could have abundance of service said Lady Rossville still persisting in her benevolent intentions to say nothing of your own domestics at Bloom Park my aunts too I'm sure if they knew of your situation interrupted Mr. Ramsey sharply what's my situation a great situation to be sure to hey got rid of a good for nothing impudent thief that wanted to pick my pocket I'm only thankful I'm quit her and that's what you call my situation what could you say if I was lying with my throat cut I beg your pardon but you must make allowance for my blenders you know my tongue is not so Scotch as my heart and that is another reason why you must come to Rossville to give me some lessons in my dear native accents I must now learn to speak Scotch to my poor people and Gertrude Hung coaxingly round him to leave an uncle Adams flinty nature began to melt what would you make of me at your bra castle among all your fine folk thanks to your grandies I'm no gone to begin to learn fashionable manners new so dinner ask me I'm no gone to my cafou of myself at this time of day I assure you we have no fine people at Rossville my dear uncle not one and indeed I do not like what are called fine people anymore than you do we are a very plain quiet old fashioned family quite clockwork in our ways and besides if you don't like them or us you shall take your own way in everything you shall breakfast dine sup if you please in your own apartment and be quite at home now don't pray don't refuse me and be made a song to all the who's high and low I suppose it'll be through the tune next that I couldn't make a shift for a day without that impudent thief here's the car stairs no no I'm no gone to be to a goon root of my aim hoose by her Gertrude was certainly not a persevering character and despairing of success she had risen to depart when her heart smote her at the thoughts of abandoning the desolate old man to his cheerless solitary state at his advanced age and in such inclement weather to be left in a house alone the idea was frightful again she returned to the charge and at length she prevailed for she held out an inducement uncle Adam was not proved against she told him of the picture he would see at Rossville of her he had so truly loved and the right string was touched a silken thread might have led uncle Adam over half the globe when Lizzie Lundy was paramount his little preparations were soon made the tailor's wife was summoned and invested with the charge of the mansion and Mr. Ramsey covered with shame and confusion at his own folly and being thus led by a child sneaked into the carriage with his head on his breast and his ears hanging down to his shoulders Lady Rossville tried to animate him but he still retained his humbled discomforted air till the carriage stopped at the castle gate when the old man burst forth I've a good mind just to gang back the way I can all delirious that I am to be reigning after pictures like a bear but it was now too late the movements of the great are commonly conducted with a celerity that baffles all calculation and uncle Adam was scarcely aware that he had reached his destination every found himself in the hall surrounded by a train of servants all that was left for him therefore was to scowl upon them as he passed along but they were too well bred to testify either mirth or surprise as sight of such a phenomenon and in spite of himself he was ushered to the saloon with all the customary demonstrations of respect it was vacant and Lady Rossville having safely deposited him in a blazing fire and vainly tried to persuade him to partake with her of some refreshment left him for a little to solace himself with the newspapers of the day while she went to announce his arrival to her mother end of section 59