LONDON:
Printed for G. G. and J. ROBINSON, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1799.
A SIMPLE STORY
CHAPTER I.
When Miss Milner arrived at Bath, she thought it the most altered place she had ever seen--she was mistaken--it was herself that was changed.
The walks were melancholy, the company insipid, the ball-room fatiguing--for, she had left behind all that could charm or please her.
Though she found herself much less happy than when she was at Bath before, yet she felt, that she would not, even to enjoy all that past happiness, be again reduced to the being she was at that period. Thus does the lover consider the extinction of his pa.s.sion with the same horror as the libertine looks upon annihilation; the one would rather live hereafter, though in all the tortures described as const.i.tuting his future state, than cease to exist; so, there are no tortures which a lover would not suffer, rather than cease to love.
In the wide prospect of sadness before her, Miss Milner"s fancy caught hold of the only comfort which presented itself; and this, faint as it was, in the total absence of every other, her imagination painted to her as excessive. The comfort was a letter from Miss Woodley--a letter, in which the subject of her love would most a.s.suredly be mentioned, and in whatever terms, it would still be the means of delight.
A letter arrived--she devoured it with her eyes. The post mark denoting from whence it came, the name of "Milner Lodge" written on the top, were all sources of pleasure--and she read slowly every line it contained, to procrastinate the pleasing expectation she enjoyed, till she should arrive at the name of Dorriforth. At last, her impatient eye caught the word, three lines beyond the place she was reading--irresistibly, she skipped over those lines, and fixed on the point to which she was attracted.
Miss Woodley was cautious in her indulgence; she made the slightest mention of Dorriforth; saying only, "He was extremely concerned, and even dejected, at the little hope there was of his cousin, Lord Elmwood"s, recovery." Short and trivial as this pa.s.sage was, it was still more important to Miss Milner than any other in the letter--she read it again and again, considered, and reflected upon it. Dejected, thought she, what does that word exactly mean?--did I ever see Mr.
Dorriforth dejected?--how, I wonder, does he look in that state? Thus did she muse, while the cause of his dejection, though a most serious one, and pathetically described by Miss Woodley, scarce arrested her attention once. She ran over with haste the account of Lord Elmwood"s state of health; she certainly pitied him while she thought of him, but she did not think of him long. To die, was a hard fate for a young n.o.bleman just in possession of his immense fortune, and on the eve of marriage with a beautiful young woman; but Miss Milner thought that an abode in Heaven might be still better than all this, and she had no doubt but his Lordship would go thither. The forlorn state of Miss Fenton ought to have been a subject for compa.s.sion, but she knew that lady had resignation to bear any lot with patience, and that a trial of her fort.i.tude might be more flattering to her vanity than to be Countess of Elmwood: in a word, she saw no one"s misfortunes equal to her own, because she saw no one so little able to bear misfortune.
She replied to Miss Woodley"s letter, and dwelt very long on that subject which her friend had pa.s.sed over lightly; this was another indulgence; and this epistolary intercourse was now the only enjoyment she possessed. From Bath she paid several visits with Lady Luneham--all were alike tedious and melancholy.
But her guardian wrote to her, and though it was on a topic of sorrow, the letter gave her joy--the sentiments it expressed were merely common-place, yet she valued them as the dearest effusions of friendship and affection; and her hands trembled, and her heart beat with rapture while she wrote the answer, though she knew it would not be received by him with one emotion like those which she experienced. In her second letter to Miss Woodley, she prayed like a person insane to be taken home from confinement, and like a lunatic protested, in sensible language, she "Had no disorder." But her friend replied, "That very declaration proves its violence." And she a.s.sured her, nothing less than placing her affections elsewhere, should induce her to believe but that she was incurable.
The third letter from Milner Lodge brought the news of Lord Elmwood"s death. Miss Woodley was exceedingly affected by this event, and said little else on any other subject. Miss Milner was shocked when she read the words "He is dead", and instantly thought,
"How transient are all sublunary things! Within a few years _I_ shall be dead--and how happy will it then be, if I have resisted every temptation to the alluring pleasures of this life!" The happiness of a peaceful death occupied her contemplation for near an hour; but at length, every virtuous and pious sentiment this meditation inspired, served but to remind her of the many sentences she had heard from her guardian"s lips upon the same subject--her thoughts were again fixed on him, and she could think of nothing besides.
In a short time after this, her health became impaired from the indisposition of her mind; she languished, and was once in imminent danger. During a slight delirium of her fever, Miss Woodley"s name and her guardian"s were incessantly repeated; Lady Luneham sent them immediate word of this, and they both hastened to Bath, and arrived there just as the violence and danger of her disorder had ceased. As soon as she became perfectly recollected, her first care, knowing the frailty of her heart, was to enquire what she had uttered while delirious. Miss Woodley, who was by her bedside, begged her not to be alarmed on that account, and a.s.sured her she knew, from all her attendants, that she had only spoken with a friendly remembrance (as was really the case) of those persons who were dear to her.
She wished to know whether her guardian was come to see her, but she had not the courage to ask before her friend; and she in her turn was afraid by the too sudden mention of his name, to discompose her. Her maid, however, after some little time, entered the chamber, and whispered Miss Woodley. Miss Milner asked inquisitively "What she said?"
The maid replied softly, "Lord Elmwood, Madam, wishes to come and see you for a few moments, if you will allow him."
At this reply Miss Milner stared wildly.
"I thought," said she, "I thought Lord Elmwood had been dead--are my senses disordered still?"
"No, my dear," answered Miss Woodley, "it is the present Lord Elmwood who wishes to see you; he whom you left ill when you came hither, _is_ dead."
"And who is the present Lord Elmwood?" she asked.
Miss Woodley, after a short hesitation, replied--"Your guardian."
"And so he is," cried Miss Milner; "he is the next heir--I had forgot.
But is it possible that he is here?"
"Yes--" returned Miss Woodley with a grave voice and manner, to moderate that glow of satisfaction which for a moment sparkled even in her languid eye, and blushed over her pallid countenance. "Yes--as he heard you were ill, he thought it right to come and see you."
"He is very good," she answered, and the tear started in her eyes.
"Would you please to see his Lordship?" asked her maid.
"Not yet, not yet," she replied; "let me recollect myself first." And she looked with a timid doubt upon her friend, to ask if it was proper.
Miss Woodley could hardly support this humble reference to her judgment, from the wan face of the poor invalid, and taking her by the hand, whispered, "You shall do what you please." In a few minutes Lord Elmwood was introduced.
To those who sincerely love, every change of situation or circ.u.mstances in the object beloved, appears an advantage. So, the acquisition of a t.i.tle and estate was, in Miss Milner"s eye, an inestimable advantage to her guardian; not on account of their real value; but that any change, instead of diminishing her pa.s.sion, would have served only to increase it--even a change to the utmost poverty.
When he entered--the sight of him seemed to be too much for her, and after the first glance she turned her head away. The sound of his voice encouraged her to look once more--and then she riveted her eyes upon him.
"It is impossible, my dear Miss Milner," he gently whispered, "to say, what joy I feel that your disorder has subsided."
But though it was impossible to say, it was possible to _look_ what he felt, and his looks expressed his feelings. In the zeal of those sensations, he laid hold of her hand, and held it between his--this he did not himself know--but she did.
"You have prayed for me, my Lord, I make no doubt?" said she, and smiled, as if thanking him for those prayers.
"Fervently, ardently!" returned he; and the fervency with which he had prayed spoke in every feature.
"But I am a protestant, you know, and if I had died such, do you believe I should have gone to Heaven?"
"Most a.s.suredly, that would not have prevented you."
"But Mr. Sandford does not think so."
"He must; for he means to go there himself."
To keep her guardian with her, Miss Milner seemed inclined to converse; but her solicitous friend gave Lord Elmwood a look, which implied that it might be injurious to her, and he retired.
They had only one more interview before he left the place; at which Miss Milner was capable of sitting up--he was with her, however, but a very short time, some necessary concerns relative to his late kinsman"s affairs, calling him in haste to London. Miss Woodley continued with her friend till she saw her entirely reinstated in her health: during which time her guardian was frequently the subject of their private conversation; and upon those occasions Miss Milner has sometimes brought Miss Woodley to acknowledge, "That could Mr. Dorriforth have possibly foreseen the early death of the last Lord Elmwood, it had been more for the honour of his religion (as that ancient t.i.tle would now after him become extinct), if he had preferred marriage vows to those of celibacy."
CHAPTER II.
When the time for Miss Woodley"s departure arrived, Miss Milner entreated earnestly to accompany her home, and made the most solemn promises that she would guard not only her behaviour, but her very thoughts, within the limitation her friend should prescribe. Miss Woodley at length yielded thus far, "That as soon as Lord Elmwood was set out on his journey to Italy, where she had heard him say that he should soon be obliged to go, she would no longer deny her the pleasure of returning; and if (after the long absence which must consequently take place between him and her) she could positively affirm the suppression of her pa.s.sion was the happy result, she would then take her word, and risk the danger of seeing them once more reside together."
This concession having been obtained, they parted; and as winter was now far advanced, Miss Woodley returned to her aunt"s house in town, from whence Mrs. Horton was, however, preparing to remove, in order to superintend Lord Elmwood"s house, (which had been occupied by the late Earl,) in Grosvenor Square; and her niece was to accompany her.