A short time after this, that dreadful scene happened which
I have before described.
"Year succeeded year, during which time I received many cruel insults
from my husband, many horrible ones from my son; for I had been
advised to institute a suit against my lord, in which I only pleaded
for the return of my children. I lost my cause, owing, I hope, to bad
counsel, not the laws of my country. I was adjudged to be separated
from the earl, with a maintenance of six hundred a-year, which he
hardly pays. I was tied down never to speak to him, nor to his son
nor his daughter. Though this sentence was passed, I never
acknowledged its justice, but wrote several times to my children.
Lord Harwold, who is too deeply infected with his father's cruelty,
has either returned my letters unopened or with insulting replies.
For my daughter, she keeps an undeviating silence; and I have not
even seen her since the moment in which she was hurried from my eyes
in Tinemouth Park.
"In vain her brother tries to convince me that she detests me. I will
not believe it; and the hope that, should I survive her father, I may
yet embrace my child, has been, and will be, my source of maternal
comfort until it be fulfilled, or I bury my disappointment in the
grave."
Lady Tinemouth put her handkerchief to her eyes, which were again
flowing with tears. Thaddeus thought he must speak, if he would not
betray an interest in her narrative, which he determined no
circumstance should ever humble him to reveal.
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