‘CORK, April 8th.
‘MY DEAR UNCLE,—I am much obliged to you for the communication of your
intention with regard to Amabel; but, indeed, I must say I am a good
deal surprised that you should have so hastily resolved on so important
a step, and have been satisfied with so incomplete an explanation of
circumstances which appeared to you, as well as to myself, to show that
Guy’s character was yet quite unsettled, and his conduct such as to
create considerable apprehension that he was habitually extremely
imprudent, to say the least of it, in the management of his own affairs.
How much more unfit, therefore, to have the happiness of another
intrusted to him? I believe—indeed, I understood you to have declared
to me that you were resolved never to allow the engagement to be
renewed, unless he should, with the deference which is only due to
you as his guardian, consent to clear up the mystery with which he
has thought fit to invest all his pecuniary transactions, and this, it
appears, he refuses, as he persists in denying all explanation of his
demand for that large sum of money. As to the cheque, which certainly
was applied to discreditable uses, though I will not suffer myself to
suppose that Guy was in collusion with his uncle, yet it is not at
all improbable that Dixon, not being a very scrupulous person, may, on
hearing of the difficulties in which his nephew has been placed, come
forward to relieve him from his embarrassment, in the hope of further
profit, by thus establishing a claim on his gratitude. In fact, this
proof of secretly renewed intercourse with Dixon rather tends to
increase the presumption that there is something wrong. I am not writing
this in the expectation that the connection should be entirely broken
off, for that, indeed, would be out of the question as things stand at
present, but for my little cousin’s sake, as well as his own, I entreat
of you to pause. They are both extremely young—so young, that if there
was no other ground, many persons would think it advisable to wait a few
years; and why not wait until the time fixed by his grandfather for
his coming into possession of his property? If the character of his
attachment to Amabel is firm and true, the probation may be of infinite
service to him, as keeping before him, during the most critical period
of his life, a powerful motive for restraining the natural impetuosity
of his disposition; while, on the other hand, if this should prove
to have been a mere passing fancy for the first young lady into whose
society he has been thrown on terms of easy familiar intercourse, you
will then have the satisfaction of reflecting that your care and caution
have preserved your daughter from a life of misery. My opinion has
never altered respecting him, that he is brave and generous, with good
feelings and impulses, manners peculiarly attractive, and altogether a
character calculated to inspire affection, but impetuous and unsteady,
easily led into temptation, yet obstinate in reserve, and his temper of
unchecked violence. I wish him happiness of every kind; and, as you well
know, would, do my utmost for his welfare; but my affection for your
whole family, and my own conscientious conviction, make me feel it my
duty to offer this remonstrance, which I hope will be regarded as by no
means the result of any ill-will, but simply of a sincere desire for the
good of all parties, such as can only be evinced by plain speaking.
‘Yours affectionately,
‘P. MORVILLE.’
All the time Laura was reading, Guy was defending Philip against the exaggerated abuse that Mr. Edmonstone and Charles were pouring out, till at last, Mrs. Edmonstone, getting out of patience, said,—
‘My dear Guy, if we did not know you so well, we should almost accuse you of affectation.’
‘Then I shall go away,’ said Guy, laughing as he rose. ‘Can you come out with me?’ said he, in a lower tone, leaning over the back of Amy’s chair.
‘No; wait a bit,’ interposed Mr. Edmonstone; ‘don’t take her out, or you won’t be to be found, anywhere, and I want to speak to you before I write my letter, and go to the Union Meeting. I want to tell Master Philip, on the spot, that the day is fixed, and we snap our fingers at him and his probation. Wait till twenty-five! I dare say!’
At ‘I want to speak to you,’ the ladies had made the first move towards departure, but they were not out of hearing at the conclusion. Guy looked after Amy, but she would not look round, and Charles lay twisting Bustle’s curls round his fingers, and smiling to himself at the manner in which the letter was working by contraries. The overthrow of Philip’s influence was a great triumph for him, apart from the way in which it affected his friend and his sister.
Mr. Edmonstone was disappointed that Guy would not set about fixing the day, in time for him to announce it in a letter to be written in the course of an hour. Guy said he had not begun on the subject with Amy, and it would never do to hurry her. Indeed, it was a new light to himself that Mr. Edmonstone would like it to take place so soon.
‘Pray, when did you think it was to be?’ said Mr. Edmonstone. ‘Upon my word, I never in all my days saw a lover like you, Guy!’
‘I was too happy to think about the future; besides, I did not know whether you had sufficient confidence in me.’
‘Confidence, nonsense! I tell you if I had a dozen daughters, I would trust them all to you.’