The woman on her return told me, "Mr. Pendarves was certainly seeking
me; that he had, on leaving the church, looked round, and then ran
several yards at full speed down the park, after which he stopped and
she thought it probable that he would soon be past the front window, but
she would look out and see." She did so, and having told me in a
whisper, adding that "through a hole in the little muslin curtain I
could see him without being seen," I was weak enough to take advantage
of the opportunity. He walked dejectedly and with folded arms; the glow
on his cheek, which the sight of me had deepened, was now succeeded by a
deadly paleness; and I felt a bitterness which not even my sense of his
errors could assuage, that he was wretched, and that I had made him so.
My spy watched him into his own house, and only then I ventured to
return to mine. I must say that I look back on this morning, spite of
the sufferings which I endured, with much self-satisfaction, as I had
completely acted up to the dictates of filial duty under the strongest
temptation of disobeying them, as my mother was gone with De Walden to
spend the day from home; and had I not conscientiously avoided Seymour,
I might even without any positive infringement of duty, have exposed
myself to the risk of seeing him undisturbed by her presence. Happily,
however, my principles were too firm to allow me to be satisfied with
this subterfuge, and, as I before said, I recall this day with
satisfaction.
Every hour I expected that Seymour would call, but he did not come:
however, I saw his servant ride up to the gate, deliver a note, and wait
for an answer. I gave it verbally to my own maid. It was, that Mrs.
Pendarves was gone out for the whole day. Shall I confess that I _hoped_
Seymour would, on hearing this, make an attempt to see me, though I was
resolved to refuse him attendance; and I was _mortified_ that he did
not? Just before I expected my mother and De Walden would return, I saw
Seymour's servant come to the door again, and deliver another note, as
it seemed; but when it was brought into the room, I found it was a
letter to me! I was at once relieved, agitated, miserable and delighted;
yet my hand trembled so much I thought I should never be able to open
the letter. The following were its contents:--
"When this letter reaches you, Miss Pendarves, I shall be at a
distance from that scene which to me can now never again be a home,
but which is endeared to me by such tender recollections, that not
even by the miserable ones which now must succeed to them can they
be ever effaced.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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