Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Select Bibliography
- Note on the Text
- The Romance of Private Life
- VOL II
- VOL III
- CHAPTER I
- CHAPTER II
- CHAPTER III
- CHAPTER IV
- CHAPTER V
- CHAPTER VI
- CHAPTER VII
- CHAPTER VIII
- CHAPTER IX
- CHAPTER X
- CHAPTER XI
- CHAPTER XII
- CHAPTER XIII
- CHAPTER XIV
- CHAPTER XV
- CHAPTER XVI
- Endnotes
- Silent Corrections
CHAPTER XV
from VOL III
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Select Bibliography
- Note on the Text
- The Romance of Private Life
- VOL II
- VOL III
- CHAPTER I
- CHAPTER II
- CHAPTER III
- CHAPTER IV
- CHAPTER V
- CHAPTER VI
- CHAPTER VII
- CHAPTER VIII
- CHAPTER IX
- CHAPTER X
- CHAPTER XI
- CHAPTER XII
- CHAPTER XIII
- CHAPTER XIV
- CHAPTER XV
- CHAPTER XVI
- Endnotes
- Silent Corrections
Summary
The pangs at this sad heart, of deep remorse –
A true, tho’ tardy, sense of justice, and
A spirit even yet, capable of
Gratitude and love, have hither brought me.
Do with me what is fit, I'm come to pay
The forfeit of my crime.
Not so Old as it Seems, – A Tragi Comedy.About half an hour previous to the reception of Lady Ormond's note, Mr. Fitzmaurice, in his capacity of magistrate, had been enquired for by a young man, decently habited, tall, meagre, and incessantly harassed by an ominous short cough, who, with an air of settled melancholy, a sunken chest, a hollow eye, but full of the fiery lustre brought on by fever, and a bright hectic spot on each cheek, betrayed, by every possible symptom, the fearful ravages which confirmed disease was making on his constitution.
Mr. Fitzmaurice, hearing he came upon business, and pitying his blighted youth, encouraged him to sit down. /
‘I thank you, Sir,’ said the poor man in a feeble, husky tone; ‘I thank you for the permission. I have much to tell, and am so short-breathed and weak, that I could hardly get through my task were I to stand.’
Some refreshment was then offered him before he began; but he declined everything except a draught of fresh spring water, begging, when it was brought, that the decanter and glass might be left upon the table.
After these preliminaries, a tale was poured into Mr. Fitzmaurice's ear that rivetted his whole attention. It appeared that the man with whom he was conversing, was not wholly unknown to him, though mental suffering, combined with bodily, had so altered him, that he no longer seemed the same being. The substance of what he related was as follows:
He was the nephew, he said, of Mrs. Nelson, who had lived many years at Ormond Hall as the nurse of Mr. de Gray. His father was one of Sir Everard's tenants, and cultivated a small farm on his estate. ‘
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- Information
- The Romance of Private Lifeby Sarah Harriet Burney, pp. 353 - 362Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014