Ellen Percy; or, The Memoirs of an Actress — page 96: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ELLEN PERCY; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF AN ACTRESS. §3 William Lardner as I have from Henry Wake- | way that if you had suddenly become rich, you field !” | would rejoice to lay your fortune at my feet—so Carressingly smoothing down Beda’s jetty dark | do I now bless the moment which enables me to hair with my hand, I said, “You have nothing to do the same towards you!” Pe afraid of, any Hel gin! And as for William, as Oh! He f sisnopap rat Slant 3 of my own, e is most welcome here!” illen,” erie enry—“if through mine own in- The youth now came forward, and bowed with | dustry I had obtained but the smallest compe- the profoundest respect. I have said on a former | tency, no matter how small, would you not think occasion that he was remarkably handsome—of the | better of me P” gipsy tribe—and swarthy. He was now about; “ Henry, how can you speak thus?” I exclaimed. nineteen, BPS Ae had a tik mae mel in apPeer What glee it from seb pa bie riches ance since Jas saw him, e was dressed with | come, so long as we possess them ere is my the utmost neatness; and I was not surprised | fortune, Henry—take it—consider it to be your nea turning round oa fi ze I Bae Te » ; ifipeerligs ; . hat she was surveying him with a species o en, deares en!” he said, pressing my bashful admiration. I inquired whether \;: .Jliam | hend to his lips; “not another syllable of argu- had made a prosperous voyage and had dene any | ment dare I use! You are the arbitress of my good for himself iz and these questions elicited | destiny and Oh! happy indeed am I to possess some particulars which were not as yet known to the love of such a goddess of generosity, and Beda, as it appeared that William Lardner had | beauty, and goodness as you are !” not been many minutes in the room when I made “TI honour you, Henry,” I said, “for that in- my appearance. He had originally hired himself | clination which you have shown to pursue an on board an Hast Indiaman: but on touching at | active employment and to earn riches by your the Cape of Good Hope, he and two or three other | own industry. But under existing circumstances Sailors were attacked with such a violent fever | it were the height of folly for you to render your: that it was deemed expedient to land them at | self the slave of commercial avocations. It is not Cape Town. William Lardner recovered; and | because you retire from the mercantile world and when his strength was sufficiently restored, he ob- | I retire from the stage, that we need both lead a tained a passage back to England in another ship | life of idleness, rendering us worthless members belonging to the same owner as the first. On| of society. Those who possess riches ought to board this latter ship he had attracted the notice | seek every opportunity of doing good. Such a ofa military man of high rank in the Hast India | pursuit will furnish occupation; and thus, you see, service ; and this personage had offered to provide | there are useful, substantial, and pleasurable avo- for him. But William Lardner had given no/| cations apart from those of business. Then, too, decisive answer: he wished to consult Beda on the | there is leisure for the improvement of the mind— subject—and, as he diffidently added, “ he thought | for the study of useful and valuable literature— likewise that I should not refuse to give him my | and for the cultivation of the arts and sciences, own acvice.” I cheerfully promised to pay the | Idleness need not be the inevitable associate of utmost attention to his interests, and assured him | wealth: on the contrary, wealth itself may be ren- that in the course of a day or two I would hear all | dered the fertile source of employments and avoca- he had to say on the point ; for it did not appear | tions calculated to benefit not merely ourselves, that there was any necessity for him to give a| but many of our fellow-creatures likewise.” hasty decision to the personage who offered to Henry listened to me with the deepest attention, become his patron. —his looks expressing the tenderest approval of Leaving William and Beda again alone together | all that thus flowed from my lips. After some I returned to the room where I had left Henry: | little further conversation, it was agreed that he and the moment I opened the door, he bounded | should write that very day to Mr. Macdonald at forward and caught me in his arms, exclaiming, | Paisley, to represent that his prospects enabled “Oh, Ellen! you feared that I was not cured of | him to retire from the commercial world, and that that mad readiness of mine to judge hastily and | he requested therefore the deeds of partnership by first appearances! Ah, if you knew how often | might be cancelled. He promised to set off for and often I have since blamed myself for my | Paisley ina couple of days that he might finally almost unpardonable conduct towards you at| wind up his accounts with Mr. Macdonald, and River House Se take leave of that gantleman and his family. “Not another syllable on that point, my dear; 1 sent for my father in the course of the day, Henry!” I interrupted him: “1 am glad that in- that he might be introduced to Henry Wakefield ; cident should have occurred, since I see that you | for they had not as yet met. Henry’s deceased profit so well by the experience it gave you. You | mother had been my father’s sister; and thus have read those papers P” | Henry was my father’s nephew, He knew that “Ellen, it all looks like a dream!” he cried. | my father had been unfortunate and criminal; for “But, Oh! how rejoiced I am on your account! | these revelations I made to Henry when we met And you indeed possess a at Paisley a year back. But the demeanour of “Twelve thousand a-year, Henry! And now | my lover towards my father was of the kindest tell me,” I continued, “ what necessity is there for | and the most magnanimous description. As for you to toil and slave behind the desk of a counting- | my father himself, he was proud of possessing house bs such a nephew for the present, and of the prospect “Oh! this is most generous on your part, | of shortly having him as a son-in-law. dearest Ellen!” exclaimed Henry; “for { know Having remained two days in London, Henry what you mean !” set off for the North, in order that he might get “Yes, dearest cousin,” I replied: “in the same | his business finished with Mr. Macdonald as soon ECORNICLOOOLK (EO)