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 Why, my Lady, if my Lord and my honoured master s agreeable, I did think of
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putting another codicil to master s will in order to dispose of it.
 Your master s will, said the Earl laughing;  why not your own, my good
Peter?
 My honoured Lord, said the steward, with great humility,  it don t become a
poor serving man like me to make a will.
 But how will you prove it, said the Earl kindly, willing to convince him of
his error;  you must be both dead to prove it.
 Our wills, said Peter, gulping his words,  will be proved on the same day.
His master looked round at him with great affection, and both the Earl and
Emily were too much struck with his attachment to say any thing. Peter had,
however, the subject too much at heart to abandon it, just as he had broke the
ice. He anxiously wished the Countess s consent to the scheme, for he would
not affront her even after he was dead.
 My Lady--Miss Emmy, said Johnson, eagerly,  my plan is---if my honoured
master s agreeable---to make a codicil---and give my mite to a little---Lady
Emily Denbigh.
 Oh! Peter, you and uncle Benfield are both too good, cried Emily, laughing
and blushing, as she hastened to Clara and her mother.
 Thank you--thank you, cried the delighted Earl, following his wife with his
eyes, and shaking the steward cordially by the hand-- and if no better
expedient be adopted by us, you have full permission to do as you please with
your money ---and the husband joined some of his other guests.
 Peter, said his master to him, in a low tone,  you should never speak of
such things prematurely--now I remember when the Earl of Pendennyss, my
nephew, was first presented to me, I was struck with the delicacy and
propriety of his demeanour-- and the Lady Pendennyss, my niece too--- you
never see any thing forward or--Ah! Emmy, dear, said the old man tenderly,
interupting himself,  you are too good--to remember your old uncle, taking
one of the fine peaches she handed him from a plate---the Countess handed the
steward one also, though with an averted face, and expression of archness and
shame.
 My Lord, said Mr. Haughton to the Earl,  Mrs. Ives and myself, have had a
contest about the comforts of matrimony--- she insists she may be quite as
happy at Bolton Parsonage, as in this noble castle, and with this rich
prospect in view.
 I hope, said Francis,  you are not teaching my wife to be discontented with
her humble lot--if so, both, her s and your visit will be an unhappy one.
 It would be no easy task, if our good friend intended any such thing, by his
jests, said Clara, smiling;  I know my true interests, I trust, too well, to
wish to change my fortune.
 You are right, said Pendennyss;  it is wonderful how little our happiness
depends on our temporal condition---when here, or at Lumley Castle, surrounded
by my tenantry, there are, I confess, moments of weakness, in which the loss
of my wealth or rank, would be missed greatly---but when on
service---subjected to great privations, and surrounded by men superior to me
in military rank, and who say unto me--go, and I go---come, and I come---I
find my enjoyments intrinsically the same.
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 That, said Francis,  may be owing to your Lordship s tempered
feelings---which have taught you to look beyond this world for your pleasures
and consolation.
 It has doubtless an effect, said the Earl,  but there is no truth I am more
fully persuaded of, than, that our happiness here, does not depend upon our
lot in life, so we are not suffering for necessaries---even changes bring less
real misery than they are supposed to.
 Doubtless; cried Mr. Haughton,  under the circumstances, I would not wish
to change, even with your Lordship, unless, indeed, he continued, with a
smile, and bow to the Countess,  it were the temptation of your lovely wife.
 You are quite polite, said Emily, laughing,  but I have no desire to
deprive Mrs. Haughton of a companion she has made out so well with these
twenty years past.
 Thirty,my Lady, if you please.
 And thirty more, I hope, continued Emily, as a servant announced the
several carriages at the door. The younger part of the company now hastened to
their different engagements, and Chatterton handed Harriet; John, Grace; and
Pendennyss, Emily, into their respective carriages; the Duke and Lady Marian
following, but at some little distance from the rest of the party.
As the Earl drove from the door, the Countess looked up to a window, at which
were standing her aunt and Doctor Ives; and kissed her hand to them, with a
face, in which glowed the mingled expressions of innocence--love and joy.
Before leaving the Park, the party passed Sir Edward, with his wife leaning
on one arm and Jane on the other--pursuing their daily walk--The Baronet
followed the carriages with his eyes, and exchanged looks of the fondest love
with his children, as they drove slowly and respectfully by him, and if the
glance which followed on Jane, did not speak equal pleasure--it surely denoted
its proper proportion of paternal love.
 You have much reason to congratulate yourself, on the happy termination of
your labours, said the Doctor, with a smile, to the widow;  Emily is placed,
so far as human foresight can judge, in the happiest of all stations a female
can be in--the pious wife of a pious husband--beloved, and deserving of it.
 Yes, said Mrs. Wilson, drawing back from following the phaeton with her
eyes,  they are as happy as this world will admit of, and, what is better,
they are well prepared to meet any reverse of fortune which may occur--and
discharge the duties they have entered on;--I do not think, continued she
musing, that Pendennyss can ever doubt the affections of such a woman as
Emily.
 I should think not, said the Doctor, with a smile,  but what can excite
such a thought in your breast, and one so much to the prejudice of George?
 The only unpleasant thing, I have ever observed in him, said Mrs. Wilson,
gravely,  is the suspicion which induced him to adopt the disguise he entered
our family with.
 He did not adopt it, Madam--chance, and circumstances drew it around him
accidentally--and when you consider the peculiar state of his mind from the
discovery of his mother s misconduct--his own great wealth and rank--it is not
surprising he should yield to a deception, rather harmless than injurious.
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 Dr. Ives, said Mrs. Wilson,  is not wont to defend deceit.
 Nor do I now, Madam, replied the Doctor, with a smile,  I acknowledge the
offence of George--myself, wife, and son-- I remonstrated at the time upon
principle-- I said the end would not justify the means-- that a departure from
ordinary rules of propriety, was at all times dangerous, and seldom practised
with impunity.
 And you failed to convince your hearers, cried Mrs. Wilson, gayly; a
novelty in your case, my good rector.
 I thank you for your compliment, said the Doctor,  I did convince them as [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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