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Ebook has 115 lines and 60387 words, and 3 pages

Release date: August 12, 2023

Original publication: London: W. Earle and J. W. Hucklebridge, 1806

LADY MACLAIRN

THE

A NOVEL.

IN FOUR VOLUMES.

BY MRS. HUNTER,

OF NORWICH,

PRINTED FOR W. EARLE AND J. W. HUCKLEBRIDGE;

AND SOLD BY W. EARLE, NO. 47, ALBEMARLE STREET; GEORGE ROBINSON, PATERNOSTER ROW; B. CROSBY AND CO, STATIONERS' COURT; THOMAS OSTELL, AVE-MARIA LANE; AND All OTHER BOOKSELLERS.

W. Flint, Printer, Old Bailey.

LADY MACLAIRN,

THE

Again must the reader be contented with my pen, in order to supply the interrupted course of Miss Cowley's letters.

From the period already described the lovers were left to their own discretion, and the direction of Counsellor Steadman; who, availing himself of Mr. Sinclair's information, decidedly supported them in their attachment; and, in the words of the fond father, "became a teacher of doctrines, which had silenced his authority, if they had not convinced his conscience." As this was said with an acquiescent smile, it was understood. Besides this no other consequence resulted from Mr. Sinclair's letter, as Miss Cowley gave her lover to understand, that she meant not to marry till Mr. Flamall's power had ceased. She urged this point with her usual disinterested spirit. "I will be mistress of myself and my fortune," said she, "and manifest to the world my own judgment, in selecting a man worthy of both. I can be as proud as Mr. Hardcastle, and I can have my scruples: my husband shall not lose an ample inheritance, because a girl is impatient to bear his name. We shall be happy; in the mean time, you my Horace are engaged in the sacred duties of friendship: persevere, and rest assured of Rachel Cowley's faith and love."

I observed that Mr. Oliver Flint's letter was a satisfactory one. "Certainly," replied she, "as far as it goes; but there is yet secrecy in the business, and with me concealment portends danger." She was summoned to Miss Flint, who is still much indisposed. I am going to ramble with the Baronet.

RACHEL COWLEY.

RACHEL COWLEY.

HISTORY OF THE MACLAIRN FAMILY.

"My father," said Sir Murdoch, "was one of those men who could not abandon their unfortunate monarch in the year 1715, and he was one also of that faithful band who saw their own ruin in the fall of the Stuart line.

"He fled to France, after every hope was lost, and there he entered into a regiment chiefly composed of men like himself, and whose loyalty and courage have well recompensed the country which then sheltered and fed them. With the rank of captain, and an unsullied name, he soon after married a young lady, whose fortune was similar to his own. Her father was major in the same corps; but unable to bear the reverse of fortune, or borne down by the fatigues he had encountered in the royal cause, he died, and left his daughter to a Maclairn"--Sir Murdoch rose, and paced the room--"I was the only fruit of this marriage," resumed he; "my mother I do not remember, for I was only three years old when my father lost this prop of his earthly comforts; but he taught me to revere her name.

"Time had given stability to the British monarch; and my uncle, desirous of seeing a brother whom he loved and secretly reverenced, employed such means as were necessary to restore my father to his native rocks with security. This intelligence was communicated to him, when I had just reached my nineteenth year, and Sir Alexander, with every argument that affection could suggest, finished his intreaties by reminding my father of his age and infirmities; and the duty they were mutually bound to perform before death closed their eyes. 'All that remains of our name,' added he, 'is in our children. My Matilda shall never lose the title of Maclairn; from her cradle she has been taught to love her cousin, and to your Murdoch do I look for a renovation of that race which it is your duty to perpetuate. Remember that these children are the last hope of an ancient and honourable house, which even in the obscurity of a sunken fortune will retain its place in the annals of true glory; for its sons were brave and its daughters virtuous.' He blessed Providence for its interposition, which had opened his eyes to the folly and madness which the prince's adherents had fallen into, in their attempts to reinstate the proscribed Stuarts; 'and I now bless heaven,' added he, 'that by my moderation I have preserved an asylum for you and a home for our children.'

"For a time our union was opposed by her brother. I was poor; and in avowing my poverty Mr. Flamall perceived that I was proud. Miss Flint employed her influence in favour of Harriet's wishes; and on giving up my solicitations at the war office, our marriage took place without further opposition. My wife mentioned to me a promise she had made to Miss Flint, in consequence of her good offices with Mr. Flamall; and expatiating on her sister's, fondness for her infant brother, she timidly proposed to me the plan of residing with Miss Flint at Tarefield Hall. I saw the mother in this arrangement; and I admitted the plea. Harriet was pleased, and Miss Flint was contented. On arriving here I found that every attention had been paid for securing my domestic comforts. Apartments were prepared for our exclusive use; and to do justice to Miss Flint, her conduct was at this period both discreet and generous. But my character was determined. I had found tranquillity: I had gained a heart on which to repose: my wife was my asylum from care; but I had no relish for joy: society was distasteful to me, and the common amusements of life were irksome and fatiguing. My Harriet, the kind and guardian angel that heaven had bestowed on me, convinced me that we were formed for each other. My tastes were hers, my comforts hers, and retirement was necessary to her happiness. I saw with contentment Miss Flint's increasing attachment to the little Philip: she was continually engaged in the nursery with him; and there appeared a perfectly good understanding established in our family. But this season of tranquillity was not permitted to be permanent. The birth of Malcolm, an event which had opened once more my mind to the sensations of joy, was marked for a source of petty discontents, and officious intrusions. Mr. Flamall's visits to the Hall became more frequent, and his stay longer. Lucretia, as my gentle Harriet told me with a languid smile, was jealous of the little stranger, and feared that she should love him. For a time this passed, but abstracted as I was in myself, and disposed as I had always been, to reserve with Mr. Flamall, I discovered that his presence was the signal for Harriet's depressed spirits and Miss Flint's peevishness. Struck from time to time by the insolent authority he held in the family, and the power he exercised over a woman impatient of the slightest contradiction from others, I was led to conclusions which could alone solve the difficulty; and I foresaw that the time was not remote when Miss Flint would have a tyrant legally authorized to be the despot at Tarefield. I mentioned my opinion to my wife; she acknowledged that she believed Lucretia loved her brother, but that she still loved her independence better; and the struggle, added she, has been for so long a time so equally maintained, that I think her temper and his own have gained nothing in the contest. He has, however, succeeded in gaining her confidence, by his zeal and knowledge in her business, and his partiality for her darling boy has confirmed in her a respect for his talents.

Heaven bless you, and all I love at Heathcot!

RACHEL COWLEY.

R. COWLEY.

P. S. The unavoidable delay of my friend's dispatches permits me to add to the bulk of my letter. Leaving to the lovers of the pathetic and sublime at the abbey to describe my "secret interesting languor," and "fascinating" pale face, I shall simply tell you, that what with a hearty dinner on Mrs. Wilson's boiled fowls, and as hearty a welcome, they sent me home with a different complexion, and as blythe as a bird.

RACHEL COWLEY.

The reader is now to be informed that Miss Cowley's pen was for more than a month suspended by a visit which Miss Hardcastle and Miss Howard made at the Abbey. The termination of Miss Cowley's minority, as settled by law, put her into possession of her grandmother's fortune; and counsellor Steadman was induced, partly with a view to that business, and partly to consult his fair client in respect to a letter written by Mr. Flamall on the subject of his nephew's secret marriage, to pay her a short visit. The young ladies were therefore conducted by him to Mr. Wilson's; and their escort home was the counsellor's friend, whose house at Bishop's Auckland was his abode during his stay.

Miss Cowley's friends still adhered to their first opinion, and Mr. Flamall was suffered to remain in his post without other marks of distrust than such as the counsellor's vigilance and the attention of Miss Cowley's friend, Mr. Oliver Flint, gave to his mode of conduct. But Mr. Flamall wanted not for acuteness; and, foiled in his ambition, he thought it prudent to secure a safe retreat. Fortunately for himself, as well as for Miss Cowley's interest, he found for once, that "honesty was the best policy:" that by employing his talents and his diligence for the benefit of the estates he might succeed in gaining a good report, and the continuance of an employment which was advantageous and respectable.

Sir Murdoch during this term of jubilee, as it might be called at Tarefield, found other faces to admire as well as Miss Cowley's. His contentment rose to cheerfulness, and in the enjoyment of a society whose attention and solicitude were given to please and amuse him, he so entirely gained the advantage over his habits of retirement and his dejection of mind, that in Miss Cowley's words, "she had ceased to love him, for he had the nerves and activity of a fox-hunter." Miss Flint's declining health and spirits were the two ostensible apologies for Lady Maclairn's taking no part in these hours of cheerfulness and social ease. She succeeded in her request that Miss Hardcastle would divide her time between the Abbey and the Hall; and Lucy, with a candour and gentleness so peculiarly her own, was not only charmed with her, but with unceasing labour endeavoured to remove from her friend the prejudices she entertained to her disadvantage. Mrs. Allen, ever on the side of charity, took up Miss Hardcastle's arguments; and Miss Cowley, with her natural frankness, acknowledged that her being Mr. Flamall's sister might have biassed her judgment. Some steps were taken to produce a reconciliation between the captain and Miss Flint: these were made without his knowledge, for Miss Flint refused to see her niece; and Lady Maclairn judged it improper to urge her request; as it appeared the subject distressed her, and increased her melancholy.

The departure of the young ladies in the beginning of June, again leaves me to my allotted task; and my readers to the gratification of their curiosity.

Putney, June the 9th.

"My dear cousin."

I remain Your affectionate cousin and friend,

LYDIA SERGE.

Yours, faithfully,

RACHEL COWLEY.

July the 1st.

With my heart on my lips, and the Portugal onion in my bosom, can you blame me if I should transgress your law of charity, Lucy? I will be as good as I can; but thus tempted to folly, if I sin thank my betrayer, and do not chide me.

In a word, it appears to me, that poor Mr. Serge can talk of nothing but his daughter: that his lady can do any thing better than command her tongue: that Miss Lydia is an automaton, useful to fetch and carry; and that the beauty is neither in her element here, nor contented any where. So much for my first four-and-twenty hours knowledge of this illustrious family.

Good Night!

LETTER XL.

Your

RACHEL COWLEY.

Our good doctor will have a more rich and costly offering from the grateful Mr. Serge, than any that ostentation or superstition ever gave to Esculapius, or to any saint in the Roman calendar, if he can manage to keep his patient as many years as he has done hours from the cruel invader, pain. Yet I am angry with Douglass's honesty; he tells me that this poor girl cannot live long; and that even the medicine we fancy so efficacious, will soon lose its benign effect. "She knows her condition," added he with sympathy, "and has only the wish of seeing her father more reconciled to the thoughts of losing her; but we must let him enjoy the present, and trust for the future to that Being who will support him."

We now entered the avenue, and Leonora composed her pretty face, saying, with a deep sigh, that she wanted a true friend! I silently agreed with her. I leave to Mary the profound reflections which this little airing has brought forward in my mind; it not being my business to reason, but to detail. Heathcot and its inhabitants must not engage me a moment longer; for I am Lady Maclairn's "right hand."

Yours ever,

RACHEL COWLEY.

Saturday evening.

Faithful,

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