Page:The Mysterious Warning - Parsons (1796, volume 4).djvu/231

 that ill becomes you: I am inclined to serve you, but it must be in my own manner, nothing shall be extorted from me."

"And I disdain a favour," said she:—"Know then, your father was married to my mother, consequently neither the late Rhodophil or yourself were entitled to inherit."

"This is so wild a chimera," said Ferdinand, 'that I know not which to admire most, the impudence or the falsehood of the assertion."

"You shall find," returned she, "that it is a decided truth; I have two witnesses to prove the marriage, and shall immediately enter a process against you, unless you consent to give me a moiety of your fortune."

"And pray," asked Ferdinand, with a disdainful smile, "who, and where are your witnesses?"

"They are in Baden, and without you accede quietly to my proposal, to-morrow shall witness the publication of my claims, your father's memory shall be branded as it de-