How impertinent and officious in these Branghtons, to interfere thus in my concerns! You can hardly imagine what a disturbance this plan has made in the family. The Captain, without enquiring into any particulars of the affair, has peremptorily declared himself against it, merely because it has been proposed by Madame Duval; and they have battled the point together with great violence. Mrs. Mirvan says, she will not even think, till she hears your opinion. But Lady Howard, to my great surprise, openly avows her appprobation of Madame Duval’s intention; however, she will write her reasons and sentiments upon the subject to you herself.
As to Miss Mirvan, she is my second self, and neither hopes nor
fears but as
I do. And as to me,-I know not what to say, nor even what to wish; I
have often thought my fate peculiarly cruel, to have but one parent,
and from that one to be banished for ever;-while, on the other side,
I have but too well known and felt the propriety of the separation. And
yet, you may much better imagine, than I can express, the internal
anguish which sometimes oppresses my heart, when I reflect upon the
strange indifference that must occasion a father never to make the
least enquiry after the health, the welfare, or even the life of
his child!
O Sir, to me the loss is nothing!-greatly, sweetly, and most
benevolently
have you guarded me from feeling it; but for him, I grieve indeed!-I
must be divested, not merely of all filial piety, but of all humanity,
could I ever think upon this subject, and not be wounded to the soul.
Again I must repeat, I know not what to wish; think for me, therefore,
my dearest Sir, and suffer my doubting mind, that knows not which way
to direct its hopes, to be guided by your wisdom and unerring counsel.
EVELINA.
LETTER XXVII - LADY HOWARD TO THE REV. MR. VILLARS Howard Grove.
Dear Sir,
I CANNOT give a greater proof of the high opinion I have of your candour, than by the liberty I am now going to take, of presuming to offer you advice, upon a subject concerning which you have so just a claim to act for yourself; but I know you have too unaffected a love of justice, to be partially tenacious of your own judgment.
Madame Duval has been proposing a scheme which has put us all in
commotion,
and against which, at first, in common with the rest of my family,
I exclaimed: but, upon more mature consideration, I own my objections
have almost wholly vanished.
This scheme is no other than to commence a lawsuit with Sir John Belmont, to prove the validity of his marriage with Miss Evelyn; the necessary consequence of which proof will be, securing his fortune and estate to his daughter.
And why, my dear Sir, should not this be? I know that, upon first
hearing,
such a plan conveys ideas that must shock you; but I know, too,
that your mind is superior to being governed by prejudices, or
to opposing any important cause on account of a few disagreeable
attendant circumstances.
Your lovely charge, now first entering into life, has merit which
ought not
to be buried in obscurity. She seems born for an ornament to the world.
Nature has been bountiful to her of whatever she had to bestow; and
the peculiar attention you have given to her education, has formed her
mind to a degree of excellence, that in one so young I have scarce
ever seen equalled. Fortune alone has hitherto been sparing of her
gifts; and she, too, now opens the way which leads to all that is
left to wish for her.
What your reasons may have been, my good Sir, for so carefully
concealing the
birth, name, and pretensions of this amiable girl, and forbearing to
make any claim upon Sir John Belmont, I am totally a stranger to; but,
without knowing, I respect them, from the high opinion that I have
of your character and judgment: but I hope they are not insuperable;
for I cannot but think, that it was never designed for one who seems
meant to grace the world, to have her life devoted to retirement.
Surely Sir John Belmont, wretch as he has shown himself, could never
see his
accomplished daughter, and not be proud to own her, and eager to
secure her the inheritance of his fortune. The admiration she met
with in town, though merely the effect of her external attractions,
was such, that Mrs. Mirvan assures me, she would have had the most
splendid offers, had there not seemed to be some mystery in regard
to her birth, which, she was well informed was assiduously, though
vainly, endeavoured to be discovered.