But little did Thaddeus think at that time who she was, and how
nearly connected with that friend whose neglect has been a venomed
shaft unto his soul!
Mary Beaufort was the orphan heiress of Admiral Beaufort, one of the
most distinguished officers in the British navy. He was the only
brother of the now lamented Lady Somerset, the beloved mother of
Pembroke Somerset, so often the eloquent subject of his discourse in
the sympathizing ear of Thaddeus Sobieski! The admiral and his wife,
a person also of high quality, died within a few months after the
birth of their only child, a daughter, having bequeathed her to the
care of her paternal aunt; and to the sole guardianship of that
exemplary lady's universally-honored husband, Sir Robert Somerset,
baronet, and M. P. for the county. When Lady Somerset's death spread
mourning throughout his, till then, happy home, (which unforeseen
event occurred hardly a week before her devoted son returned from the
shores of the Baltic,) a double portion of Sir Robert's tenderness
fell upon her cherished niece. In her society alone he found any
consolation for his loss. And soon after Pembroke's arrival, his
widowed father, relinquishing the splendid scenes of his former life
in London, retired into the country, sometimes residing at one family
seat, sometimes at another, hoping by change of place to obtain some
alleviating diversion from his ever sorrow-centred thoughts.
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