'Well,' replied Dr. ----, 'I _may_ be mistaken; Mr Glenmurray is young,
and--and--' here his voice faltered, and he was unable to proceed; for
the expression of Adeline's countenance, changing as it instantly did
from misery to joy,--joy of which he knew the fallacy,--while her eyes
were intently fixed on him, was too much for a man of any feeling to
support; and when she pressed his hand in the convulsive emotions of
her gratitude, he was forced to turn away his head to conceal the
starting tear.
'Well, I may be mistaken--Mr Glenmurray is young,' Adeline repeated
again and again, as his carriage drove off; and she flew to Glenmurray's
bed-side to impart to him the satisfaction which he rejoiced to see her
feel, but in which he could not share.
Her recovered security did not, however, last long; the change in
Glenmurray grew every day more visible; and to increase her distress,
they were forced, to avoid disagreeable altercations, to give the
landlord a draft on Mr Berrendale for the sum due to him, and remove to
very humble lodgings in a closer part of the town.
Here their misery was a little alleviated by the unexpected receipt of
twenty pounds, sent to Glenmurray by a tenant who was in arrears to
him, which enabled Adeline to procure Glenmurray every thing that his
capricious appetite required; and at his earnest entreaty, in order that
she might sometimes venture to leave him, lest her health should suffer,
she hired a nurse to assist her in her attendance upon him.
A hasty letter too was at length received from Mr Berrendale, saying,
that he should very soon be in England, and should hasten to Richmond
immediately on his landing. The terror of wanting money, therefore,
began to subside; but day after day elapsed, and Mr Berrendale came not;
and Adeline, being obliged to deny herself almost necessary sustenance
that Glenmurray's appetite might be tempted, and his nurse, by the
indulgence of hers, kept in good humour, resolved, presuming on the
arrival of Mr Berrendale, to write to Dr Norberry and solicit the loan
of twenty pounds.
Having done so, she ceased to be alarmed, though she found herself in
possession of only three guineas to defray the probable expenses of
the ensuing week; and in somewhat less misery than usual, she, at the
earnest entreaty of Glenmurray, set out to take a walk.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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