Hargrave,
who is much attached to my uncle, and is in great awe of my Lady,
was thoroughly frightened, and implored him to secure himself and the
young lady by consenting, thinking, too, that anything that would
rouse him would be beneficial."
"It is strange!" mused the Major. "A clear-headed punctilious man
like your uncle, to lend himself to a false marriage! His ten years
of melancholy must have changed him greatly!"
"Less than you suppose, sir; but you will remember that my mother is
esteemed as a terrible power by all concerned with her. Even when
she seemed to love me tenderly, I was made to know what it was to
cross her will, and alas! she always carries her point."
"It did seem a mode of protection," said Betty, more kindly.
"And" added the youth, "my uncle impressed on me from the first that
he only consented on condition the I treated this wedlock as betrothal
alone, never met my sweet love save in his dark room, and never revealed
myself to her. He said it was a mere expedient for guarding her until
I shall come of age, or Mr. Wayland comes home, when I shall woo her
openly, and if needful, repeat the ceremony with her full knowledge.
Meanwhile I wrote the whole to my stepfather, and am amazed that he
has never written nor come home.
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