"I have gone out of order. I proposed to inform you clearly of my
situation, but the principal outrage of my heart rose immediately to
my lips. I will commence regularly, if I can methodize my
recollection.
"The Earl of Tinemouth married me from passion: I will not sanctify
his emotions by the name of affection; though," added she, forcing a
smile, "these faded features too plainly show that of all mankind, I
loved but him alone. I was just fifteen when he came to visit my
father, who lived in Berkshire. My father, Mr. Cumnor, and his
father, Lord Harwold, had been friends at college. My lord, then Mr.
Stanhope, was young, handsome, and captivating. He remained the
autumn with us, and at the end of that period declared an affection
for me which my heart too readily answered. About this time he
received a summons from his father, and we parted. Like most girls of
my age, I cherished an unconquerable bashfulness against admitting
any confidant to my attachment; hence my parents knew nothing of the
affair until it burst upon them in the cruelest shape.
"About two months after Mr. Stanhope's departure, a letter arrived
from him, urging me to fly with him to Scotland. He alleged as a
reason for such a step that his grandfather, the Earl of Tinemouth,
insisted on his forming a union with Lady Olivia Lovel, who was then
a young widow, and the favorite niece of the most powerful nobleman
in the kingdom.
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