And
if it thus affected even strangers connected with them only by political
party, it may be guessed what the Ashton family themselves said
and thought under so gross a dispensation. Sir William, still more
worldly-minded than he was timid, was reduced to despair by the loss
by which he was threatened. His son's haughtier spirit was exalted into
rage at the idea of being deprived of his expected patrimony. But to
Lady Ashton's yet more vindictive temper the conduct of Ravenswood, or
rather of his patron, appeared to be an offence challenging the deepest
and most immortal revenge. Even the quiet and confiding temper of Lucy
herself, swayed by the opinions expressed by all around her, could not
but consider the conduct of Ravenswood as precipitate, and even unkind.
"It was my father," she repeated with a sigh, "who welcomed him to this
place, and encouraged, or at least allowed, the intimacy between us.
Should he not have remembered this, and requited it with at least some
moderate degree of procrastination in the assertion of his own alleged
rights? I would have forfeited for him double the value of these lands,
which he pursues with an ardour that shows he has forgotten how much I
am implicated in the matter.
Pages:
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542