CHAPTER III.
Mr. Talton remained thoughtful some minutes after the Captain had ceased speaking; then addressing him—"If you were some years younger, Howard, I should censure you severely for your conduct; but as it is, and in consideration of the punishment you have already endured, I shall suspend my lecture! Poor Ellenor! It is strange, Howard, in the course of so many years you should never have gained any intelligence, nor met with the least circumstance from which you could judge of her destiny."
"It is strange, Talton. A few weeks back my nephew introduced a youth on board, whose appearance raised such emotions in my breast as I cannot attempt to describe. He was the exact resemblance of my Ellenor; his age too agrees with my son's, if living; but every hope was soon destroyed, his answers plainly proved he was not her child."
A sigh of regret here burst from the bosom of the Captain; nor could he refrain an impatient exclamation against the severity of his fate, in being thus deprived of those he regarded as the blessings of his existence.
"Though your life, Howard," said Mr. Talton, "has been rather out of the dull track of common occurrences, yet I would not have you think you have had more than your share of human ills; of those, believe me, all have an equal dispensation, and, sooner or later, feel the hand of adversity! As your morning of life has been clouded, you should, I think, look forward to a clear evening. You yet may find your Ellenor, and your son be restored, all your fondest desires could wish. You still have hope! Many, suffering afflictions, are bereaved of that blessing, by a fatal certainty of ill, where their happiness depends."
"Certainty of ill—" repeated the Captain—"Ah, Talton, am I not chained to a woman I detest, deprived of her I idolized, and a son whose endearments and attentions might have soothed the little sorrows of my bosom? But you are a bachelor, unrestrained by any ties which can justly interest the heart, and therefore cannot judge for me."
"Pardon me, my friend," returned Talton. "I speak not from conjecture; neither am I altogether unacquainted with those anxieties which have rendered you unhappy; and if you will listen to the tale of the woman I love, you may, perhaps, be convinced of the justness of my assertion."
The Captain bowed his consent—.
"Miss Holly, Howard, was an only daughter, and brought up by an old humourist of a father, whose idol she was, whilst she yielded every sense to his guidance. Many proposals of marriage were offered, but none thought worthy her acceptance by Mr. Holly, till he accidentally met with Sir Horace Corbet, an old schoolfellow, and as great an oddity as himself, with whom he renewed his acquaintance; and an union was proposed between their children—agreed on, the writings drawn, and the wedding-day fixed, before the young people were acquainted with the least circumstance, or their sentiments respecting it, asked! Miss Holly received the mandate of her father, to regard Mr. Corbet as the husband he had selected, with the greatest distress; and at last informed him her affections were irrevocably fixed on another. But vain were her supplications and tears: the old gentleman was peremptory—and Miss Holly eloped!