Two Ghostly Mysteries | Page 5

now, about this letter, you need not answer it
yet; of course you must be allowed time to make up your mind; in the
mean time I will write to his lordship to give him my permission to
visit us at Ashtown--good night, my love."
And thus ended one of the most disagreeable, not to say astounding,
conversations I had ever had; it would not be easy to describe exactly
what were my feelings towards Lord Glenfallen; whatever might have
been my mother's suspicions, my heart was perfectly disengaged; and
hitherto, although I had not been made in the slightest degree
acquainted with his real views, I had liked him very much, as an
agreeable, well informed man, whom I was always glad to meet in
society; he had served in the navy in early life, and the polish which his
manners received in his after intercourse with courts and cities had not
served to obliterate that frankness of manner which belongs
proverbially to the sailor. Whether this apparent candour went deeper
than the outward bearing I was yet to learn; however there was no
doubt that as far as I had seen of Lord Glenfallen, he was, though
perhaps not so young as might have been desired in a lover, a
singularly pleasing man, and whatever feeling unfavourable to him had
found its way into my mind, arose altogether from the dread, not an
unreasonable one, that constraint might be practised upon my
inclinations. I reflected, however, that Lord Glenfallen was a wealthy
man, and one highly thought of; and although I could never expect to

love him in the romantic sense of the term, yet I had no doubt but that,
all things considered, I might be more happy with him than I could
hope to be at home. When next I met him it was with no small
embarrassment, his tact and good breeding, however, soon reassured
me, and effectually prevented my awkwardness being remarked upon;
and I had the satisfaction of leaving Dublin for the country with the full
conviction that nobody, not even those most intimate with me, even
suspected the fact of Lord Glenfallen's having made me a formal
proposal. This was to me a very serious subject of self gratulation, for,
besides my instinctive dread of becoming the topic of the speculations
of gossip, I felt that if the situation which I occupied in relation to him
were made publicly known, I should stand committed in a manner
which would scarcely leave me the power of retraction. The period at
which Lord Glenfallen had arranged to visit Ashtown-house was now
fast approaching, and it became my mother's wish to form me
thoroughly to her will, and to obtain my consent to the proposed
marriage before his arrival, so that all things might proceed smoothly
without apparent opposition or objection upon my part; whatever
objections, therefore, I had entertained were to be subdued; whatever
disposition to resistance I had exhibited or had been supposed to feel,
were to be completely eradicated before he made his appearance, and
my mother addressed herself to the task with a decision and energy
against which even the barriers, which her imagination had created,
could hardly have stood. If she had, however, expected any determined
opposition from me, she was agreeably disappointed; my heart was
perfectly free, and all my feelings of liking and preference were in
favour of Lord Glenfallen, and I well knew that in case I refused to
dispose of myself as I was desired, my mother had alike the power and
the will to render my existence as utterly miserable as any, even the
most ill-assorted marriage could possibly have done. You will
remember, my good friend, that I was very young and very completely
under the controul of my parents, both of whom, my mother
particularly, were unscrupulously determined in matters of this kind,
and willing, when voluntary obedience on the part of those within their
power was withheld, to compel a forced acquiescence by an unsparing
use of all the engines of the most stern and rigorous domestic discipline.
All these combined, not unnaturally, induced me to resolve upon

yielding at once, and without useless opposition, to what appeared
almost to be my fate. The appointed time was come, and my now
accepted suitor arrived; he was in high spirits, and, if possible, more
entertaining than ever. I was not, however, quite in the mood to enjoy
his sprightliness; but whatever I wanted in gaiety was amply made up
in the triumphant and gracious good humour of my mother, whose
smiles of benevolence and exultation were showered around as
bountifully as the summer sunshine. I will not weary you with
unnecessary prolixity. Let it suffice to say, that I was married to Lord
Glenfallen with