VICTIM OF VILLANY.
A NOVEL.
IN FOUR VOLUMES.
OF NORWICH,
AUTHOR OF LETITIA; THE UNEXPECTED LEGACY; THE HISTORY OFTHE GRUBTHORPE FAMILY; PALMERSTONE’S LETTERS, &c. &c.
VOL. III.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR W. EARLE AND J. W. HUCKLEBRIDGE;
AND SOLD BY W. EARLE, NO. 47, ALBEMARLE STREET; GEORGEROBINSON, PATERNOSTER ROW; B. CROSBY AND CO, STATIONERS’COURT; THOMAS OSTELL, AVE-MARIA LANE; AND All OTHERBOOKSELLERS.
1806.
W. Flint, Printer, Old Bailey.
LADY MACLAIRN,
THE
VICTIM OF VILLANY.
Again must the reader be contentedwith my pen, in order to supply the interruptedcourse of Miss Cowley’s letters.
From the period already described thelovers were left to their own discretion,and the direction of CounsellorSteadman; who, availing himself of Mr.Sinclair’s information, decidedly supportedthem in their attachment; and,in the words of the fond father, “becamea teacher of doctrines, which hadsilenced his authority, if they had not convincedhis conscience.” As this was saidwith an acquiescent smile, it was understood.Besides this no other consequenceresulted from Mr. Sinclair’s letter, as MissCowley gave her lover to understand, thatshe meant not to marry till Mr. Flamall’spower had ceased. She urged this pointwith her usual disinterested spirit. “I willbe mistress of myself and my fortune,” saidshe, “and manifest to the world my ownjudgment, in selecting a man worthy ofboth. I can be as proud as Mr. Hardcastle,and I can have my scruples: myhusband shall not lose an ample inheritance,because a girl is impatient to bear hisname. We shall be happy; in the meantime, you my Horace are engaged in thesacred duties of friendship: persevere, andrest assured of Rachel Cowley’s faith andlove.”
It is to be regretted, that, from motivesof delicacy, Mr. Hardcastle’s letters arenot permitted to appear; and I cannotbut lament that so fair an opportunityescapes me of confuting an opinion,so boldly and erroneously asserted, that“a man in love must write like a fool.”Had no impediment been opposed to mywishes, I could have produced incontestibleproofs, that love and nonsense haveno natural affinity. Horace Hardcastle’sunderstanding was neither enslaved bybeauty, nor the dupe of a youthful inclination;nor was Miss Cowley thechild of vanity. Rhapsody and flatterywere equally useless to their rational viewsand virtuous attachment. The hopes ofmeriting each other’s esteem imparted totheir language the simplicity of truth andthe unstudied graces of nature. The tributeof Horace’s admiration was directedto the cultivating the taste and formingthe judgment of the woman he loved;and Miss Cowley, with a well-groundedconfidence in his principles, as well as inhis superior advantages in learning, assiduouslyp