“And mind be sure and tell him that grannie and the titties, and,
abune a’, Grace and mysell, are weel and thriving, and that it’s a’ his
doing--that canna but please him, ane wad think.”
And Elliot and the family at Heugh-foot were, and continued to be, as
fortunate and happy as his undaunted honesty, tenderness, and gallantry
so well merited.
All bar between the marriage of Earnscliff and Isabella was now removed,
and the settlements which Ratcliffe produced on the part of Sir Edward
Mauley, might have satisfied the cupidity of Ellieslaw himself. But Miss
Vere and Ratcliffe thought it unnecessary to mention to Earnscliff that
one great motive of Sir Edward, in thus loading the young pair with
benefits, was to expiate his having, many years before, shed the blood
of his father in a hasty brawl. If it be true, as Ratcliffe asserted,
that the Dwarf’s extreme misanthropy seemed to relax somewhat, under
the consciousness of having diffused happiness among so many, the
recollection of this circumstance might probably be one of his chief
motives for refusing obstinately ever to witness their state of
contentment.
Mareschal hunted, shot, and drank claret--tired of the country, went
abroad, served three campaigns, came home, and married Lucy Ilderton.
Years fled over the heads of Earnscliff and his wife, and found and left
them contented and happy. The scheming ambition of Sir Frederick
Langley engaged him in the unfortunate insurrection of 1715. He was made
prisoner at Preston, in Lancashire, with the Earl of Derwentwater,
and others. His defence, and the dying speech which he made at his
execution, may be found in the State Trials. Mr. Vere, supplied by
his daughter with an ample income, continued to reside abroad, engaged
deeply in the affair of Law’s bank during the regency of the Duke of
Orleans, and was at one time supposed to be immensely rich. But, on the
bursting of that famous bubble, he was so much chagrined at being
again reduced to a moderate annuity (although he saw thousands of his
companions in misfortune absolutely starving), that vexation of mind
brought on a paralytic stroke, of which he died, after lingering under
its effects a few weeks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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