Page:Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope.djvu/214

 intimated to some of her creditors her expectation of being soon enabled to satisfy all their demands. It was in reliance on this, too, that she had invited me to come over. And not doubting in the least the truth of the information secretly conveyed to her by some one of her friends, it may be supposed that a packet to be delivered into nobody’s hands but her own was readily conjectured to relate to this business.

About four o’clock, Mr. Abella, the English agent, his son, and the servant, made their appearance. The secretary was called in. "Tell your father I shall not see him; and, doctor, go and take the letter, and bring it to me," was Lady Hester’s exclamation. I went to Mr. Abella, but found him determined not to part with it, unless he gave it into Lady Hester’s own hand. I urged upon him the impossibility of his doing so, as she had seen nobody for some weeks; at last, on his still persisting, we became somewhat warm on the matter. This was better than going to Lady Hester to ask her what was to be done; for her answer probably would have been to desire two of her stoutest Turks to go with sticks, and take it from him by force. At last, Mr. Abella gave up his trust, upon condition that I would write a paper representing that he had done it forcibly; in such a fright was he lest Mr. Moore should turn him out of his place.

Instead of being an answer from Sir Francis Bur-