LETTER IV.
ANNE TO ELENOR.
A PRETTY good period of time, you say, I
have taken, before I bring Miss Osborn back to
Mrs. Harrop's, though I only left that lady to
take a few hours ride with my little friend.
Well, I hate apologies when a person from either
inclination or necessity, has been remiss in a
correspondence; where indeed is the use of
them? If inclination caused the silence, the excuses
will appear forced and awkward; if necessity
has occasioned it, we must have but a very
poor opinion of the friend who would need an
apology for what they must know is as painful
to ourselves as to them; this, by way of preamble—and
now to proceed with my narrative.
When young Darnley had handed Sarah into
the carriage, the bow of profound respect which
accompanied the action, and the fixed attitude
in which he remained on the steps of the door,
until the carriage drove off, occasioned me to
smile, and ask her if she knew the gentleman?
and if she did not think him handsome? “I am
sure I don't know,” answered she gravely,
“whether he is handsome or ugly; I never saw
him before, and have no wish ever to see him
again.” “I am much mistaken, Sarah,” said I,
“if he is quite so indifferent in regard to seeing
you again.” “Do not let us talk like a couple
of girls,” said she, with a half smile, “who never
received the smallest degree of polite attention
from a man in their lives before.” She then
turned the conversation upon Mrs. Harrop, Miss
Julia, the work, &c. “I am much deceived,”
said she, “if I do not shew them some work and
painting, at the end of the next term, superior
to the daubs she so ostentatiously displayed:
the work is very well, but there is a want of
taste in the arrangement of the colors, the flowers
want that lightness which is the greatest
beauty of needlework.”
I then gave her the necessary hints for not
engaging to perform more than her strength
would admit; she replied, “that if she was paid
for her time, it would become a duty not to
waste a moment, but to fill it up assiduously for
the benefit of her employer.” We dined with a
friend, and in the evening returned to Mrs. Harrop's,
made the necessary arrangements, and
it was agreed that Sarah should take her new
situation on the Saturday following.
She had not long superintended the school,
before Mrs. Harrop discovered what a treasure
she had got; the scholars naturally attached
themselves to her, especially those who had been
accustomed to associate with well bred persons;
her manners were so gentle, yet commanding;
her language and appearance were so superior
to the governess and her daughter, that they
loved, while they dared not disobey her. But
this, while it enhanced her value, created a kind
of envy in the bosoms of both the mother and
Miss Julia, which sometimes shewed itself unpleasantly;
and when Sarah would give her
opinion, which she often did, contrary to that of
these ladies, a degree of fretfulness apparent in
their answers, would evince their consciousness
of her superiority; yet though they opposed her
arguments, they generally adopted her plans.
During her residence here, she was frequently
seen by George Darnley; his sister was extremely
attached to her; his mother was pleased with
her attentions to her daughter, and George himself
fancied he was in love with her.
George Darnley had, in early life, been remarkable
for the heaviness of his intellect, and
the extreme difficulty with which he attained
even useful acquirements. As he advanced toward
manhood, he shewed a propensity for expensive
pleasures, mixed with an unwillingness
to procure them for himself; for dearly as he
loved pleasure, he loved money better; every
scene of amusement was joined with eagerness,
if at the expense of another. Such a disposition
was by no means likely to please Sarah; her
chief pleasures were retired; she loved society,
indeed, but did not often mix in it, because she
could not often meet with such as afforded her
satisfaction.
I have mentioned that she had no brother.
There was a young man whom Mr. Osborn had
educated, and got into the navy, by the name of
Frederic Lewis; indeed, it was thought he was
her natural brother, but of this her father never
gave her any intimation. This young man felt
all the fraternal love for her, which a man of
sense might be supposed to feel for a sister like
her; he thought her one of the most superior
women the world afforded, and when on returning
from a three year's station in the West-Indies,
he found the great change which had taken
place in Mr. Osborn's family, saw his sister (for
so he always called her) employed as a teacher
in a boarding school—his sensations were poignant
beyond description; but alas, Frederic was
but a lieutenant, and what could he do? His pay
was scarcely sufficient to support the appearance
of a gentleman; and prize money was not to be
obtained in the service he had been engaged in.
I am interrupted, adieu for the present.
