“Well, my dear Frederick,” said her ladyship, “you see I lost no time in obeying your wishes. I have flown hither, I may indeed say, on the wings of love. But where is this little divinity of thine? I long to have a peep at her goddess-ship.”
Lord Mortimer, inexpressibly shocked, turned to the window.
“I shall see, to be sure,” cried her ladyship, “quite a little paragon. Positively, Frederick, I will be introduced this very evening.” “My dear aunt, my dear Lady Martha,” said Lord Mortimer, impatiently, “for Heaven’s sake spare me!” “But tell me,” she continued, “when I shall commence this attack upon your father’s heart?” “Never! never!” sighed Mortimer, half distracted. “What! you suppose he will prove inflexible? But I do not despair of convincing you to the contrary. Tell me, Frederick, when the little charmer is to be seen?” “Oh, God!” cried Mortimer, striking his forehead, “she is lost,” said he, “she is lost forever!”
Lady Martha was alarmed. She now, for the first time, noticed the wild and pallid looks of her nephew. “Gracious Heaven!” she exclaimed, “what is the matter?”
The dreadful explanation Lord Mortimer now found himself under a necessity of giving. The shame of acknowledging he was so deceived, the agony he suffered from that deception, joined to the excessive agitation and fatigue he had suffered the preceding night, and the present day, so powerfully assailed him at this moment, that his senses suddenly gave way, and he actually fainted on the floor.
What a sight for the tender Lady Martha! She saw something dreadful had happened, and what this was Lord Mortimer, as soon as recovered, informed her.
He then retired to his chamber. He could neither converse nor bear to be conversed with. His fondest hopes were blasted, nor could he forego the sad indulgence of mourning over them in solitude. He felt almost convinced that the hold Amanda had on his affections could not be withdrawn; he had considered her as scarcely less than his wife, and had she been really such, her present conduct could not have given him more anguish. Had she been snatched from him by the hand of death; had she been wedded to a worthy character, he could have summoned fortitude to his aid; but to find her the prey of a villain, was a stroke too horrible to bear, at least for a long period, with patience.