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haughty Countess entrusted none with the secrets of her family-tuition.
Adrian was bred up in solitude, and kept apart from the natural companions
of his age and rank. Some unknown circumstance now induced his mother to
send him from under her immediate tutelage; and we heard that he was about
to visit Cumberland. A thousand tales were rife, explanatory of the
Countess of Windsor's conduct; none true probably; but each day it became
more certain that we should have the noble scion of the late regal house of
England among us.
There was a large estate with a mansion attached to it, belonging to this
family, at Ulswater. A large park was one of its appendages, laid out with
great taste, and plentifully stocked with game. I had often made
depredations on these preserves; and the neglected state of the property
facilitated my incursions. When it was decided that the young Earl of
Windsor should visit Cumberland, workmen arrived to put the house and
grounds in order for his reception. The apartments were restored to their
pristine splendour, and the park, all disrepairs restored, was guarded with
unusual care.
I was beyond measure disturbed by this intelligence. It roused all my
dormant recollections, my suspended sentiments of injury, and gave rise to
the new one of revenge. I could no longer attend to my occupations; all my
plans and devices were forgotten; I seemed about to begin life anew, and
that under no good auspices. The tug of war, I thought, was now to begin.
He would come triumphantly to the district to which my parent had fled
broken-hearted; he would find the ill-fated offspring, bequeathed with such
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