Amongst those who were most agonized by this state of
uncertainty was the--I had almost said deserted--wife of the gay
Sir Philip Forester. A single letter had informed her of his
arrival on the Continent; no others were received. One notice
occurred in the newspapers, in which Volunteer Sir Philip
Forester was mentioned as having been entrusted with a dangerous
reconnaissance, which he had executed with the greatest courage,
dexterity, and intelligence, and received the thanks of the
commanding officer. The sense of his having acquired distinction
brought a momentary glow into the lady's pale cheek; but it was
instantly lost in ashen whiteness at the recollection of his
danger. After this, they had no news whatever, neither from Sir
Philip, nor even from their brother Falconer. The case of Lady
Forester was not indeed different from that of hundreds in the
same situation; but a feeble mind is necessarily an irritable
one, and the suspense which some bear with constitutional
indifference or philosophical resignation, and some with a
disposition to believe and hope the best, was intolerable to Lady
Forester, at once solitary and sensitive, low-spirited, and
devoid of strength of mind, whether natural or acquired.
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