Such a
marriage cannot stand for a moment; and if a lawyer like Amyas
Belamour pretended it could, either his wits were altogether astray
or he grossly deceived you. Or, as I believe, he trafficked with
you to entrap this unhappy youth, whose person and house you have,
between you, almost destroyed. Remove her, Loveday, and lock her
up till we can send for a magistrate to take depositions in the
morning. Go quietly, girl I will not have my son disturbed with
your outcries."
Poor Aurelia's voice died in her throat. Oh! why did not Mr. Belamour
come to her rescue? Ah! he had bidden her trust and be patient; she
had transgressed, and he had abandoned her! There was no sign of life
or consciousness in the pallid face on the bed, and with a bleeding
heart she let the waiting-maid lead her through the outer apartment,
still redolent of the burning, reached her own chamber, heard the key
turn in the lock, and fell across her bed in a sort of annihilation.
The threat was unspeakably frightful. Those were days of capital
punishment for half the offences in the calendar, and of what was
to her scarcely less dreadful, of promiscuous imprisonment, fetters,
and gaol fever. Poor Aurelia's ignorance could hardly enhance these
horrors, and when her perceptions began to clear themselves, her
first thought was of flight from a fate equally dreadful to the
guilty or not guilty.
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