“Oh, why is this? why am I here?” exclaimed the Lady Anne, as trembling and almost sinking to the ground—­her face alternately pale and covered with crimson blushes, she found herself alone with the Lord Russell.  “You have received my letter, might not this trial have been spared? my cup was already sufficiently bitter—­but I had drunk it.  No!” she continued gently withdrawing her hand which he had taken, “Do not make me despise myself—­the voice of duty separates us.  Farewell!  I seek a messenger from my father.”  “I am the messenger you seek,” replied he, “I have seen the Lord Somerset, and bring this letter to his daughter.”

The letter from the Earl of Somerset informed his daughter that he had seen the Earl of Bedford, and had obviated all obstacle to her union with the Lord Russell; that he was going himself to travel in foreign parts; and that he wished her to be married during a visit to the Earl and Countess of Bedford, whose invitation he had accepted for her.

“Does not your father say, that in this marriage his happiness is at stake?” said the Lord Russell, gently pressing her hand.  The Lady Anne hung down her head, and wept in silence.  “Are you still silent, my dearest?” continued he, “then will I summon another advocate to plead for me.”

He quitted the apartment for a moment, but soon returned with the Countess of Bedford, who had accompanied him to claim her future daughter-in-law.  The Lady Anne had made many resolutions, but they yielded before the sweet and eloquent entreaties that urged her to do what, in fact, she was all too willing to consent to.

They were married, the Lord Russell and the Lady Anne Carr; and they lived long and happily together.  It was always thought that the Lord Russell had loved not only well, but wisely; for the Lady Anne was ever a faithful wife, and a loving, tender mother.  It was not until some years after her marriage, that the Lady Russell discovered how the consent of the earl of Bedford had been obtained.  Till then, she knew not that this consent had been withheld, until the Earl of Somerset should give his daughter a large sum as her marriage portion:—­the Earl of Bedford calculating upon the difficulty, nay almost impossibility, of his ever raising this sum.

But he had not calculated upon the devotion of the wretched father’s love to his fair and innocent child:  and he was astounded when his terms were complied with, and the money paid at once into his hands.  He could no longer withhold his consent; nor could he refuse some admiration of this proof of a father’s love for his child.  The Lord Somerset had, in fact, sold his whole possessions, and reduced himself to an estate not far removed from beggary, to give his daughter the husband of her choice.

It was the Lady Anne Carr, of whom Vandyke painted an exquisite and well-known portrait, when Countess of Bedford.  She was the mother of William Lord Russell; and died heart-broken in her old age, when she heard of the execution of her noble and first-born son.