"
At this information, which seemed to be the sealing of his
condemnation with Mary, the heart of Thaddeus was pierced to the
core. Unacquainted until this moment with the torments attending the
knowledge of being calumniated, he could scarcely subdue the tempest
in his breast, when forced to receive the conviction that the woman
he loved above all the world now regarded him as not merely a
villain, but the meanest of villains.
He returned home indignant and agitated. The probability that
Pembroke Somerset had listened to the falsehood of Euphemia, without
suggesting one word in defence of him who once was his friend,
inflicted a pang more deadly than the rest. Shutting himself within
his apartment, tossed and tortured in soul, he traversed the room.
First one idea occurred and then another, until he resolved to seek
redress from the advice of Lady Tinemouth. With this determination he
descended the stairs, and telling Mrs. Robson he should leave London
the ensuing day for Lincolnshire, begged her not to be uneasy on his
account, as he went on business, and would return in a few days. The
good woman almost wept at this intelligence, and prayed Heaven to
guard him wherever he went.
Next morning, having risen at an early hour, he was collecting his
few articles of wardrobe to put into his cloak-bag for his meditated
short visit, when going to open one of the top drawers in his
chamber, he found it sealed, and observed on the black wax the
impress of an eagle.
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