Charlotte Smith

“ ROSALIE now saw the beloved parent, whom she yet dared not own, every day; and the discovery of her marrige with Montalbert, which she had so much dreaded, had been the means of procuring her the knoweldge of the blessing she possessed in a mother, who now secretly indulged all the tenderness of her heart. The eldest Miss Vyvian, now Mrs. Bosworth, was still at the family seat of her husband with her sister, and her father was gone into the north during the recess of parliament; no impediment, therefore, existed at present against Roslaie's passing almost all her time with Mrs. ”

“ My father, being much connected with nobel families more fortunate, had interest enough to obtain restitution of a small part indeed of the great fortune of his family, but sifficient to give once more a footing in England, where he was happy enough to marry one of its richest heiresses. ”

“ Dissatisfied with a world, which he had, from personal infirmities, no longer the power of enjoying, he retired to Holmwood when I was about fifteen, and, from that time, you may imagine my life was very recluse, for then the country around it was less inhabited, and the roads less passable than they are now. ”

“ Rosalie would have said, but she could not articulate the sentence: her mother, however, understood her. "He does, (replied she) , but not in England—I shall never see him more—nor am I guilty or wretched enough to wish it.—Never have these eyes beheld him since that fatal hour when I was compelled to give to another the hand which was his in the sight of God ”

“ He was contented to possess my fortune and my person—my heart he never thought worth the experiment that some men would have made to have gained it." A deep sigh and a long pause, which Rosalie did not interrupt, now followed.——
In a few moments Mrs. Vyvian seemed to have regained her resolution, and thus proceeded——"You should have an idea of what sort of a man, my father, Mr. Montalbert, was, before you can imagine how I was situated. I do not believe you know more than his name; for Mrs. Lessington was probably cautious of entering into any part of my unfortunate history.——Mr. ”