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Article A DIPLOMATIST'S MEMORY. ← Page 3 of 6 →
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A Diplomatist's Memory.
letter . " After a long family consultation an uncle was dispatched , purposely , to town , to see Lord S , and try the effect of a personal interview . It was obtained with extreme difficulty , only to issue in renewed disappointment : when assured that the mislaid letter was still in existence , and would yet be forthcoming , but that the strictest search
had hitherto failed in bringing it to light . Lord S re-adjusted his spectacles , looked the flushed and agitated speaker full in the face , and speaking with great deliberation , said , with provoking calmness , that " the promise could exist only in the imagination of the family ; such a promise could never have been made b y him ; it was utterly impossible ; inasmuch as it was " at variance with every principle which he had observed during a long official life . "
Further struggle was fruitless ; the reduced and dispirited family yielded to a hostile influence which they could not control . One daughter became a governess ; another went out to India . The youngest son entered the merchant service ; the second , Edward , half maddened by his disappointment , and resolved no longer to eat the bread of
dependence , worked his passage out before the mast to Demerara , where he obtained employment , but died within a year from the effects of climate . Many months after his death , when Lord S and his promise were almost forgotten , or if perchance momentarily recalled were hastildismissed as subjects fraught
y only with useless and indescribable anguish , the mother was slowly turning over some relics of her absent children , and thinking the while of those beaming faces and cheerful voices that were never more to gladden eye or ear ; among other matters , an old fishing-basket belonging to the deceased—the companion of many a joyous excursion—was
dejectedly examined . The contents were miscellaneous enough : a pair of boxing-gloves , a powder-flask , the thong of a hunting-whip , a couple of brass reels , a broken foil , and a cigar-case . Replacing them with a sigh , she turned to examine a large discoloured morocco case which lay beneath . It was crammed with artificial flieshooks of all
, sizes , fishing-lines , and choice feathers from the wild duck . In a side pocket , most carefully wrapped up in three or four casings of stout paper , lay some document . She opened it . It was the long-sought letter in Sir Charles ' s frank , with a few lines from the baronet himself , expressive of his
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Diplomatist's Memory.
letter . " After a long family consultation an uncle was dispatched , purposely , to town , to see Lord S , and try the effect of a personal interview . It was obtained with extreme difficulty , only to issue in renewed disappointment : when assured that the mislaid letter was still in existence , and would yet be forthcoming , but that the strictest search
had hitherto failed in bringing it to light . Lord S re-adjusted his spectacles , looked the flushed and agitated speaker full in the face , and speaking with great deliberation , said , with provoking calmness , that " the promise could exist only in the imagination of the family ; such a promise could never have been made b y him ; it was utterly impossible ; inasmuch as it was " at variance with every principle which he had observed during a long official life . "
Further struggle was fruitless ; the reduced and dispirited family yielded to a hostile influence which they could not control . One daughter became a governess ; another went out to India . The youngest son entered the merchant service ; the second , Edward , half maddened by his disappointment , and resolved no longer to eat the bread of
dependence , worked his passage out before the mast to Demerara , where he obtained employment , but died within a year from the effects of climate . Many months after his death , when Lord S and his promise were almost forgotten , or if perchance momentarily recalled were hastildismissed as subjects fraught
y only with useless and indescribable anguish , the mother was slowly turning over some relics of her absent children , and thinking the while of those beaming faces and cheerful voices that were never more to gladden eye or ear ; among other matters , an old fishing-basket belonging to the deceased—the companion of many a joyous excursion—was
dejectedly examined . The contents were miscellaneous enough : a pair of boxing-gloves , a powder-flask , the thong of a hunting-whip , a couple of brass reels , a broken foil , and a cigar-case . Replacing them with a sigh , she turned to examine a large discoloured morocco case which lay beneath . It was crammed with artificial flieshooks of all
, sizes , fishing-lines , and choice feathers from the wild duck . In a side pocket , most carefully wrapped up in three or four casings of stout paper , lay some document . She opened it . It was the long-sought letter in Sir Charles ' s frank , with a few lines from the baronet himself , expressive of his