"
"Now I recollect it," replied Thaddeus; "but I never saw him."
"Yet I am not less certain that I am right," replied Somerset. "I
will tell you my reasons. After I quitted Villanow, you may remember
I was to meet him at Dantzic. Before we left the port, he implored,
almost on his knees, that in pity to his mother and sisters, whom he
said he supported out of his salary, I would refrain from incensing
my parents against him by relating any circumstance of our visit to
Poland. The man shed tears as he spoke; and, like a fool, I consented
to keep the secret till the Vicar of Somerset (a poor soul, still ill
of dropsy) dies, and he be in possession of the living. When we
landed in England, I found the cause of my sudden recall had been the
illness of my dear mother. But Heaven denied me the happiness of
beholding her again; she had been buried two days before I reached
the shore." Pembroke paused a moment, and then resumed: "For near a
month after my return, I could not quit my room; on my recovery, I
wrote both to you and to the palatine. But I still locked up your
names within my heart, the old rector being yet in existence. I
repeated my letters at least every six weeks during the first year of
our separation, though you persisted in being silent. Hurt as I was
at this neglect, I believed that gratitude demanded some sacrifices
from pride, and I continued to write even till the spring following.
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