East Lynne | Page 6

a child at the time."
"Of course, I ought to have said your father. By selling East Lynne, a
few thousands will come into my hands, after claims on it are settled; I
have no other means of raising the wind, and that is why I have
resolved to part with it. But now, understand, if it were known abroad
that East Lynne is going from me, I should have a hornet's nest about
my ears; so that it must be disposed of /privately/. Do you
comprehend?"
"Perfectly," replied Mr. Carlyle.
"I would as soon you bought it as anyone else, if, as you say, we can
agree about terms."
"What does your lordship expect for it--at a rough estimate?"
"For particulars I must refer you to my men of business, Warburton &
Ware. Not less than seventy thousand pounds."
"Too much, my lord," cried Mr. Carlyle, decisively.
"And that's not its value," returned the earl.
"These forced sales never do fetch their value," answered the plain-
speaking lawyer. "Until this hint was given me by Beauchamp, I had
thought East Lynne was settled upon your lordship's daughter."
"There's nothing settled on her," rejoined the earl, the contraction on his
brow standing out more plainly. "That comes of your thoughtless
runaway marriages. I fell in love with General Conway's daughter, and
she ran away with me, like a fool; that is, we were both fools together

for our pains. The general objected to me and said I must sow my wild
oats before he would give me Mary; so I took her to Gretna Green, and
she became Countess of Mount Severn, without a settlement. It was an
unfortunate affair, taking one thing with another. When her elopement
was made known to the general, it killed him."
"Killed him!" interrupted Mr. Carlyle.
"It did. He had disease of the heart, and the excitement brought on the
crisis. My poor wife never was happy from that hour; she blamed
herself for her father's death, and I believe it led to her own. She was ill
for years; the doctors called it consumption; but it was more like a
wasting insensibly away, and consumption never had been in her
family. No luck ever attends runaway marriages; I have noticed it since,
in many, many instances; something bad is sure to turn up from it."
"There might have been a settlement executed after the marriage,"
observed Mr. Carlyle, for the earl had stopped, and seemed lost in
thought.
"I know there might; but there was not. My wife had possessed no
fortune; I was already deep in my career of extravagance, and neither of
us thought of making provision for our future children; or, if we
thought of it, we did not do it. There is an old saying, Mr. Carlyle, that
what may be done at any time is never done."
Mr. Carlyle bowed.
"So my child is portionless," resumed the earl, with a suppressed sigh.
"The thought that it may be an embarrassing thing for her, were I to die
before she is settled in life, crosses my mind when I am in a serious
mood. That she will marry well, there is little doubt, for she possesses
beauty in a rare degree, and has been reared as an English girl should
be, not to frivolity and foppery. She was trained by her mother, who
save for the mad act she was persuaded into by me, was all goodness
and refinement, for the first twelve years of her life, and since then by
an admirable governess. No fear that she will be decamping to Gretna
Green."

"She was a very lovely child," observed the lawyer; "I remember that."
"Ay; you have seen her at East Lynne, in her mother's lifetime. But, to
return to business. If you become the purchaser of the East Lynne estate,
Mr. Carlyle, it must be under the rose. The money that it brings, after
paying off the mortgage, I must have, as I tell you, for my private use;
and you know I should not be able to touch a farthing of it if the
confounded public got an inkling of the transfer. In the eyes of the
world, the proprietor of East Lynne must be Lord Mount Severn--at
least for some little time afterwards. Perhaps you will not object to
that."
Mr. Carlyle considered before replying; and then the conversation was
resumed, when it was decided that he should see Warburton and Ware
the first thing in the morning, and confer with them. It was growing late
when he rose to leave.
"Stay and dine with me," said the earl.
Mr. Carlyle hesitated, and looked down at his dress--a plain,
gentlemanly, morning attire, but certainly not a dinner costume for a
peer's table.
"Oh, that's nothing," said