“I think,” said Mrs Revel to her maid—“I think,” said she, panting, “you may lace me a little closer, Martyn.”
“Indeed, madam, the holes nearly meet; it will hurt your side.”
“No, no, I feel no pain this evening—there, that will do.”
The lady’s maid finished her task, and left the room. Mrs Revel rouged her wan cheeks, and, exhausted with fatigue and pain, tottered to an easy chair, that she might recover herself a little before she went down stairs.
In a quarter of an hour Isabel, who had waited for the services of Martyn, entered her mother’s room, to announce that she was ready. Her mother, who was sitting in the chair, leaning backwards, answered her not. Isabel went up to her, and looked her in the face—she was dead!
Volume Three--Chapter Fifteen.
My dearest wife was like this maid,
And such my daughter might have been.
Shakespeare.
The reader may be surprised at the positive and dictatorial language of Mr John Forster, relative to Newton’s marriage, as detailed in a former chapter; but, as Mr John Forster truly observed, all the recompense which he had to expect for a life of exertion was to dispose of the fruits of his labour according to his own will. This he felt, and he considered it unreasonable that what he supposed a boyish attachment on the part of Newton was to overthrow all his preconcerted arrangements. Had Mr Forster been able to duly appreciate the feelings of his nephew, he probably would not have been so decided; but Love had never been able to establish himself as an inmate of his breast. His life had been a life of toil. Love associates with idleness and ease. Mr Forster was kind and cordial to his nephew as before, and the subject was not again renewed; nevertheless, he had made up his mind, and having stated that he would alter his will, such was his intention, provided that his nephew did not upon mature reflection accede to his wishes. Newton once more enjoyed the society of Isabel, to whom he imparted all that had occurred. “I do not wish to play the prude,” answered Isabel, “by denying that I am distressed at your uncle’s decision; to say that I will never enter into his family without having received his consent, is saying more than my feelings will bear out; but I must and will say, that I shall be most unwilling so to do. We must, therefore, as Madame de Fontanges did with the pirate captain, temporise, and I trust we shall be as successful.” Newton, more rational than most young men in love, agreed with Isabel on the propriety of the measure, and, satisfied with each other’s attachment, they were by no means in a hurry to precipitate their marriage.