Part 20 (2/2)

My Lord,--my friend,--my Darcey, nothing is impossible.

By heaven! he exclaim'd, you would not flatter me;--by heaven she lives!

Ask me not farther, my Lord.--What is the blessing you most wish for?--Suppose that blessing granted.--And you, Risby, suppose the extasy,--the thankfulness that ensued.--He that is grateful to man, can he be ungrateful to his Maker?

Yours,

MOLESWORTH.

LETTER x.x.xVII.

Miss Powis to Lady Powis.

_London_.

Think me not ungrateful, my ever-honour'd Lady, that I have been silent under the ten thousand obligations which I receiv'd at Barford Abbey.--But indeed, my dear Lady, I have been _very_ ill.--I have had the small-pox:--I was seiz'd delirious the evening after my arrival in Town.--My G.o.d! what a wretch did I set out with!--Vile man!--Man did I say?--_No_; he is a disgrace to _manhood_.--How shall I tell your Ladys.h.i.+p all I have suffer'd?--I am weak,--_very_ weak;--I find myself unequal to the task.--

This moment I have hit on an expedient that will unravel all;--I'll recall a letter [Footnote: This was the same Lord Darcey's servant saw on the counter.] which I have just sent down to be put into the post-office;--a letter I wrote Lady Mary Sutton immediately on my arrival here;--but was seiz'd so violently, that I could not add the superscription, for which reason it has lain by ever since.--I am easy on Lady Mary's account:--Mr. Delves has acquainted her of my illness:--like wise the prospect of my recovery.

Consider then, dear Lady Powis, the inclos'd as if it was address'd to yourself.

I cannot do justice to the affection,--the compa.s.sion,--the tender a.s.siduity I have experienc'd from Mr. Delves's family:--I shall always love them; I hope too I shall always be grateful.

G.o.d grant, my dear Lady;--G.o.d grant, dear Sir James, that long ere this you may have embrac'd Mr. and Mrs. Powis.--My heart is with _you_:--it delights to dwell at Barford Abbey.

In a few days I hope to do myself the honour of writing to your Ladys.h.i.+p again.--One line from your dear hand would be most gratefully receiv'd by your oblig'd and affectionate

F. WARLEY.

_P.S._ My good friends Mr. and Mrs. Jenkings shall hear from me next post.

LETTER x.x.xVIII.

Miss Powis to Lady MARY SUTTON.

Oh my dear Lady! what a villain have I escap'd from?--Could your Ladys.h.i.+p believe that a man, who, to all appearance, has made a good husband to your agreeable neighbour upwards of twelve years, and preserv'd the character of a man of honour;--could you believe in the decline of life he would have fallen off? No, he cannot have fallen: such a mind as his never was exalted.--It is the virtues of his wife that has. .h.i.therto made his vices imperceptible;--that has kept them in their dark cell, afraid to venture out;--afraid to appear amidst her s.h.i.+ning perfections.--Vile, abandon'd Smith!--But for the sake of his injur'd, unhappy wife, I will not discover his baseness to any but yourself and Lady Powis.--Perhaps Mrs. Smith may not be unacquainted with his innate bad principles;--perhaps she conceals her knowledge of them knowing it vain to complain of a disorder which is past the reach of medicine.--What cure is there for mischief lurking under the mask of hypocrisy?--It must be of long standing before that covering can grow over it:--like a vellum on the eye, though taken off ever skillfully, it will again spread on the blemish'd sight.

How am I running on!--My spirits are flutter'd:--I begin where I should end, and end where I should begin.--Behold me, dearest Madam, just parted from my Hamps.h.i.+re friends,--silent and in tears, plac'd by the side of my miscreant conductor.--You know, my Lady, this specious man _can_ make himself vastly entertaining: he strove to render his conversation particularly so, on our first setting out.

We had travell'd several stages without varying the subject, which was that of our intended tour, when I said I hop'd it would conquer Mrs.

Smith's melancholy for the death of her brother.--How did his answer change him in a moment from the _most_ agreeable to the _most_ disgustful of his s.e.x!

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