Alas! I am too well convinced that the errors of
my son bear too strict a resemblance to those of his grandfather.
Vain of his superior abilities, and impatient of contradiction,
flattery can mould him to what it pleases. Lady Olivia had discovered
these weak points in his character; and, I am informed, she soon
persuaded him that you impose on his affection by detaining him from
the world; and, seconded by other fascinations, my deluded son has
accompanied her into Spain.'
"You may imagine, Mr. Constantine, my distraction at this
intelligence. I was like one lost; and the venerable earl, fearing to
trust me in such despair out of his sight, brought me and my children
with him to London. In less than four months afterwards, I was
deprived of this inestimable friend by a paralytic stroke. His death
summoned the new earl to England. Whilst I lay on a sick bed, into
which I had been thrown by the shock of my protector's death, my lord
and his mistress arrived in London.
"They immediately assumed the command of my lamented father-in-law's
house, and ordered my mother to clear it directly of me. My heart-
broken parent obeyed, and I was carried in a senseless state to a
lodging in the nearest street. But when this dear mother returned for
my children, neither of them were permitted to see her. The malignant
Lady Olivia, actuated by an insatiable hatred of me, easily wrought
on my frantic husband (for I must believe him mad) to detain them
entirely.
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