"Joseph's horror and agitation were nearly equal to Eliza's, nor dared he longer urge denial: the clergyman was summoned, and my wretched father, amidst the taunts and reproaches of his unfeeling wife, was witness to the marriage! "This was the last tyranny of which fate allowed Sir Horace to be guilty. Displeased at a letter, he intercepted, from my grandmother to my father, he went to Cornwall, and was severely upbraiding her, when Lady Corbet, who had been some time in a decline, regarded him with a look of mingled anguish and pity, and, extending her hand to him, said--'I forgive you, Corbet; but, oh--have mercy on my children!' then, sinking gently back on her seat, resigned her spirit without a sigh! "The impressive manner of her last few words, her death, by him so unexpected, struck to his heart; he felt he had been a tyrant, and had accelerated an event which must shortly happen to himself; and, for the first time, wished he had been less severe. The expressive exclamation--'Have mercy on my children!' still vibrated on his ear: he returned to the Hall, from whence he was summoned to the bedside of Mr. Holly, who died a few days after. "This was too much, even for the callousness of Sir Horace: horror filled his bosom; and his constitution, apparently robust, yielded to the agitation of his mind; he took to his bed, and for some days experienced torments unspeakable. Repeatedly he conjured my father, who never quitted him, to forgive him; and at last desired to see Joseph and Mrs. Blond; but the appearance of the pale, emaciated Eliza, added to his agonies: he struggled for breath. "'Forgive--forgive me!' he pantingly cried. 'Do not curse me! Oh, Ellenor! my child, mayest thou find a better friend than thy father has proved!--Send for my lawyer this instant--let me alter my will: for you, too, Corbet!--' "He sunk in the arms of my father. "At such a moment, could they refuse the forgiveness he entreated? Oh, no! Death was fast approaching: with a last struggle he seized the hands of my father and Blond, and, joining them, pronounced an emphatic, 'Bless you!' and immediately expired! "Mrs. Blond was conveyed to the Parsonage, in a state approaching to insensibility: my mother was confined to her apartment; but chose to be present at the opening of the will; where my father, though nominated as heir, found himself restricted from assisting his sister, or living separate from his wife, under forfeiture of the greatest part of his property to the uncontrolled will of my mother, already independent by the death of her aunt; or, in case of her demise, from marrying Eliza, under the like forfeiture to a distant branch of the family. "To Joseph he left two thousand pounds; and the estate in Cornwall, to my mother, in addition to her jointure.