Page:The Naval Officer (1829), vol. 3.djvu/213

 The consequence of the explanation was my final dismissal, and a return of all the presents which my father and myself had given to Emily. My conduct, though. blameable, was not viewed in that heinous light, either by my father or Mr. Somerville; and both of them did all that could be done to restore harmony. Clara and Talbot interposed their kind offices, but with no better success. The maiden pride of the inexorable Emily had been alarmed by a beautiful rival, with a young family, in the next village. The impression had taken hold of her spotless mind, and could not be removed. I was false, fickle, and deceitful, and was given to understand that Miss Somerville did not intend to quit her room until she was assured by her father that I was no longer a guest in the house.

Under these painful circumstances, our remaining any longer at the Hall was both useless and irksome—a source of misery to all.

My father ordered his horses the next