A NOVEL. BY MISS PARDOE, AUTHOR OF "THE LIFE OF MARIE DE MEDICIS," &c. &c. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. III. LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1858. The right of Translation is reserved. 249. Kr. 429, THE POOR RELATION. CHAPTER I. MANEUVRING. DURING the absence of Lady Harriette and her son, which was prolonged far beyond their original intention owing to the confusion in which the earl had left his affairs, and the complicated legal business consequent upon this disorder, the health of Sir Hercules Ashton became so precarious that Ella was in constant attendance in the sick-room; while her cousins, suddenly deprived of their usual sources of amusement, moved listlessly about the house, thankful when some casual visitor broke in VOL. III. B even for an hour, upon the monotony of their existence. Lord Elwood, debarred from the constant companionship of Matilda, had seized the opportunity of arranging some business in a neighbouring county; and a strange depressing quiet had fallen upon Ashton Court, which affected the spirits of the whole household. The reflections of the orphan, as she moved noiselessly about the bed of her uncle, were very sad. The letters of Lady Harriette contained constant accounts of her father's reckless expenditure; the heavy mortgages which burthened his estates; the property which he had alienated; the difficulties which she encountered in the transfer of the title to her son; and the enormous expenses of the necessary legal documents. The mental irritation produced by these perpetual annoyances had a very unfavourable effect upon the physical condition of the baronet, whose attacks of gout became more frequent and more severe than ever; and, during his periods of comparative ease, he dwelt unceasingly upon the embarrassments which had accumulated upon him; and from which he should be unable to liberate himself probably for years. Now, more than she had ever yet done, the orphan felt herself oppressed by a sense of dependence at once irksome and painful, for she knew too well that after the return of Lady Harriette, when the excitement occasioned by the important events by which she was then engrossed had subsided, she would make no effort to conceal her displeasure and indignation at the attachment which she had presumed to feel, and even to acknowledge, for her cousin. That this attachment was now utterly hopeless was evident from the tone of her aunt's letters, in which details of the pompous interment of the earl, for whom Horace had officiated as chief mourner; and undisguised exultation at the amount of the property which he must ultimately inherit, were blended with her lamentations over present difficulties. Her son had, by the express desire of His Royal Highness, been presented to one of the Princes, who had kindly assured him of the pleasure which he should feel in seeing him |