They were well aware that her
proud, vindictive, and predominating spirit would be likely to supply
him with the courage in which he was deficient; that she was immovably
attached to the party now in power, with whom she maintained a close
correspondence and alliance; and that she hated, without fearing, the
Ravenswood family (whose more ancient dignity threw discredit on the
newly acquired grandeur of her husband) to such a degree that she would
have perilled the interest of her own house to have the prospect of
altogether crushing that of her enemy.
But Lady Ashton was now absent. The business which had long detained her
in Edinburgh had afterwards induced her to travel to London, not without
the hope that she might contribute her share to disconcert the
intrigues of the Marquis at court; for she stood high in favour with
the celebrated Sarah Duchesss of Marlborough, to whom, in point of
character, she bore considerable resemblance. It was necessary to press
her husband hard before her return; and, as a preparatory step, the
Marquis wrote to the Master of Ravenswood the letter which we rehearsed
in a former chapter.
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