Would to God I had possessed sufficient fortitude to
remain chained to the isolation of my miserable home! for then had we
never met; and thou, my Helen, wouldst have escaped this hour of
shame and sorrow."
CHAPTER IV.
"Courteous Lord--one word--
Sir, you and I have lov'd--but that's not it--
Sir, you and I must part."--_ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA_
"Hitherto I have had to dwell in my recitation on the vices and
frailties of my brothers of the dust, and to describe myself as an
innocent sufferer; but I now approach a period of my life, from the
mention of which I shrink with well-grounded apprehensions. Yet judge
me with candour; remember the strength of the temptation through
which I erred; and divesting yourself, if possible, of the
recollection of your own injuries, moderate your resentment against
an unfortunate being, who for many long years of his existence has
not enjoyed one easy hour.
"It was nearly three years after the period to which I have alluded
that an accident of which I need not remind you, my beloved Helen,
introduced me to the acquaintance of your family. You may remember
the backwardness with which I first received their approaches; the
very name of Percy had become ominously painful to me, and yet it
inspired me with a strange and undefinable interest. A spell appeared
to attract me towards you, and in spite of my first resolution to the
contrary, in spite of the melancholy reserve that still dwelt upon my
mind, I became an acquaintance, and at length the favoured inmate and
friend, of your father.
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