"And so, at last, to be rid of his plaguing, I went away from London,
and took another stage name, and acted in the country. Only Mr. and
Mrs. Sheridan were in the secret of this: 'twas Mr. Sheridan gave me
letters to the country managers. That was in the Fall of '83. Well, I
heard after awhile that he too had gone into the country, to dance
attendance on an old aunt, whose heir he had got the chance of being,
through his cousin's death. But I knew if I came back to London he
would hear of it, and then, sure, farewell to all my peace! He had
continually threatened to carry me off in a coach to some village by
the Channel, and take me across to France in a fishing-smack. When I
declared I would ask the magistrates for protection, he said they
would laugh at me as a play-actress trying to make herself talked
about. I took that to be true, and so, as I've told you, I left
London.
"Well, after more than two years, I thought he must have put me out of
his mind, and so I returned, and made my reappearance to-night. And,
mercy on me!--there he was, waiting outside the theatre. From his
appearance, I suppose the aunt has died and he has come into the
money. He followed me home, as you saw; and for a moment, when he was
carrying me toward the coach, I vow I had a fear of being rushed away
to a seaport, and taken by force, on some fisherman's boat, across the
Channel. And then, all of a sudden, 'twas as if you two had sprung out
of the earth.
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