Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Mysteries of the Court of London
You are mine, adored Eliza! He said: you are mine - and here in the face of heaven, do_i pledge myself wholly and solely unto you Take this ring, my well-beloved: it has the initial of my Christian name graven on the stone. Keep it, Eliza, as an earnest of those vows which I so solemnly, sacredly plight you now.
Almost blinded by her tears, the lovely being placed the ring in her bosom; and drawing off one from her own fair finger, she murmured in accents that were broken and scarcely audible, yet filled with the soft plain'tive' harmony of her dulcet voice, And you, dearest Bertram, take this! It bears also the initial of my name: I will not tell you that I shall remain constant: my own heart gives me that assurance, - and you, who can read the secrets of that heart, know that it is en tirely and inseparably thine I Bertram took the ring - pressed it to his lips and placed it upon his finger. Then the'ffinoment for parting came. Oh! Who can depict the anguish the excruciation of feeling which marked that moment? The calmness which had succeeded the first ebullition of despair, and which in itself was only' comparative, vanished alto gether. Bertrand strained his adored Eliza in convulsive violence to his breast: they both felt as if the tenderest chords of their hearts were being rudely torn asunder. They separated in a state bordering upon frenzy: Bertram rushed from the house - while the young maiden, sinking upon a seat, felt as if she and happiness had shaken hands for ever.
Captain Lacey returned home about a quarter of an hour afterwards, and when the agonizing ih tentness of Eliza's af?iction had somewhat passed away - or at least was mitigated by the hopes which she busied herself to conjure up. For, Oh! It was so necessary for that young heart to sustain itself with hope The Captain was thunderstruck when his daughter informed him of what had occurred. He - good, credulous, but self-willed man - had arranged everything so comfortably in his own mind. Bertrand would no doubt stay another year longer at the University - he would then be well provided for by his family - and his marriage with Eliza would at once take place as a matter of course. Such was the Captain's fore shadowing: but the dream was suddenly dispelled - and with the destruction of his delusions, came worldly-minded re?ections, thickly pouring in. His eyes were now opened to the fatal error he had committed: he ought to have inquired at the outset whether in due time Bertram Vivian would be in a position to settle in marriage. He now comprehended that so far from anything of the sort, the young man had to enter on the career of life, and, with certain chances given him, carve them out into substantial shape as best he could.
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