“My letter was forgotten yesterday, and I am
glad of it. Blessings on Farmer Grimwood of Pegginton!
Little did I think that he and his quarrel about tithe
peaches would have such happy influence on my destiny.
Blessings on Farmer Grimwood of Pegginton! I repeat:
he has been the cause of my seeing such a—of
my receiving such a look of approbation—such
a smile! She is niece to our good rector—come
to spend a few days with him. Grimwood went to
the vicarage to make up his quarrel with Dr. Leicester—I
do not know what he said of me, but I find it has left
a very favourable impression in the good doctor’s
mind. He came here yesterday, and brought with
him his charming niece. My dear Erasmus, you know
that I have often prayed that I might never fall in
love seriously, till I had some reasonable
prospect of being able to marry; but I begin to retract
my prayer for indifference, and to be of opinion that
the most prudent thing a professional man can do is
to fall in love—to fall in love with such
a woman as Sophia Leicester. What a new motive
for exertion! Animated by delightful hope, perseverance,
even in the most stupid drudgery, will be pleasure.
Hope!—but I am far from hope—far
at this instant from knowing distinctly what I hope—or
wish—or mean. I will write again soon
and explain.”
CHAPTER XX.
In several successive letters of Alfred to his brother,
the progress of his attachment to Miss Leicester is
described. Instead of paying a visit of a few
days to her uncle, it appears that she stayed at the
vicarage during the whole of Alfred’s vacation.
Her mother died, and, contrary to the expectation
I of some of her admirers, Miss Leicester was left
in possession of only a moderate fortune. She
showed much dignity under these adverse circumstances,
with a charming mixture of spirit and gentleness of
disposition. The change in her expectations, which
deprived her of some of her fashionable admirers,
showed I her the superior sincerity and steadiness
of Alfred’s sentiments. No promises were
given on either side; but it appears, that Alfred
was permitted to live and labour upon hope. He
returned to London more eager than ever to pursue his
profession.
We trust that our readers will be fully satisfied
with this abridgment of the affair, and will be more
inclined to sympathize with Alfred, and to wish well
to his attachment, than if they had been fatigued with
a volume of his love-letters, and with those endless
repetitions of the same sentiments with which most
lovers’ letters abound.
Let us now go on to the affairs of Erasmus Percy.
Mr. Panton, provoked by his daughter’s coldness
towards Lord Roadster, had begun shrewdly to suspect
that the lady must be in love with some other person.
His young physician was the only man on whom he could
fix his suspicions. Constance seemed to be on
a more confidential footing with him than with any
of the visitors who frequented his house; she had spoken
of him in terms of high approbation, and had not contradicted
her father when he had, purposely to try her, pronounced
Dr. Percy to be the handsomest young fellow he knew.
While these suspicions were secretly gaining strength
in the father’s mind, a circumstance occurred
which confirmed them at once, and caused them to burst
forth with uncontrolled violence of expression.
Copyrights
Tales and Novels — Volume 07 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
