And thus it proved, for dreadful was the fall.—
Ambitious they were, of rank and name
Nought ever shock’d the lady’s tender frame
So much as this sad news. She found no rest;
Fell in a violent rage and smote her breast;
Flew to her writing-desk, dipp’d pen in ink,
(Appear’d as tho’ she thought it sin to think—
Ironic’lly exclaiming, ah! ah! ah!)
And wrote a lengthy note to Arnold’s “pa.”
Her fondest hopes, she said, were frustrated,