Page:Edgar Huntly, or The Sleep Walker.djvu/152

 Repine not, my friend, at this unlocked-for reverse: think upon the merits and misfortunes of your brother's friend—think upon his aged father, whom we shall enable him to rescue from poverty—think upon his desolate wife, whose merits are probably at least equal to your own, and whose helplessness is likely to be greater. I am not insensible to the evils which have returned upon us with augmented force, after having for a moment taken their flight; know the precariousness of my condition, and that of my sisters—that our subsistence hangs upon the life of an old man. My uncle's death will transfer this property to his son, who is a stranger and an enemy to us, and the first act of whose authority will unquestionably be to turn us forth from these doors. Marriage with thee was anticipated with joyous emotions, not merely on my own account or on. thine, but likewise for the sake of those beloved girls, to whom that event would enable me to furnish an asylum.

But wedlock is now more distant than ever: my heart bleeds to think of the sufferings which my beloved Mary is again fated to endure; but regrets are only aggravations of calamity; they are pernicious, and it is our duty to shake them off.

I can entertain no doubts as to the equity of Weymouth's claim: so many coincidences could not have happened by chance. The non-appearance of any letters or papers connected with it, is indeed a mysterious circumstance; but why should Waldegrave be studious of preserving these? They were useless paper, and might, without impropriety, be cast away, or made to serve any temporary purpose; perhaps, indeed, they still lurk in some unsuspected corner. To wish that time may explain this mystery in a different manner, and so as to permit our retention of this money, is, perhaps, the dictate of selfishness: the transfer to Weymouth will not be productive of less benefit to him and to his family, than we should derive from the use of it.

These considerations, however, will be weighed when we meet; meanwhile I will return to my narrative.