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CHAPTER V.
WHEN we arrived at Windsor, I found that Raymond and Perdita had departed
for the continent. I took possession of my sister's cottage, and blessed
myself that I lived within view of Windsor Castle. It was a curious fact,
that at this period, when by the marriage of Perdita I was allied to one of
the richest individuals in England, and was bound by the most intimate
friendship to its chiefest noble, I experienced the greatest excess of
poverty that I had ever known. My knowledge of the worldly principles of
Lord Raymond, would have ever prevented me from applying to him, however
deep my distress might have been. It was in vain that I repeated to myself
with regard to Adrian, that his purse was open to me; that one in soul, as
we were, our fortunes ought also to be common. I could never, while with
him, think of his bounty as a remedy to my poverty; and I even put aside
hastily his offers of supplies, assuring him of a falsehood, that I needed
them not. How could I say to this generous being, "Maintain me in idleness.
You who have dedicated your powers of mind and fortune to the benefit of
your species, shall you so misdirect your exertions, as to support in
uselessness the strong, healthy, and capable?"
And yet I dared not request him to use his influence that I might obtain an
honourable provision for myself--for then I should have been obliged to
leave Windsor. I hovered for ever around the walls of its Castle, beneath
its enshadowing thickets; my sole companions were my books and my loving
thoughts. I studied the wisdom of the ancients, and gazed on the happy
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