My brother being happily recover'd of his fever, and his wound in a hopeful way, altho' he has not yet vensured abroad, I will be as particular as you desire in the little history you demand of me. But heaven forbid, that any thing should ever happen, which may require it to be produced for the purpose you so kindly mention!
I will begin, as you command, with Mr. Lovelace's address to my sister; and be as brief as possible. I will recite facts only; and leave you to judge of the truth of the report raised, that the younger sister has robbed the elder.
It was in pursuance of a conference between Lord M. and my uncle Antony, that Mr. Lovelace (my papa and mamma not forbidding) paid his respects to my sister Arabella. My brother was then in Scotland, busying himself in viewing the condition of the considerable estate which was left him there by his generous godmother, together with one as considerable in Yorkshire. I was also absent at my Dairy-house, as it is called[1], busied in the accounts relating to the estate which my grandfather had the goodness to bequeath me; and which once a year are left to my inspection, altho' I have given the whole into my papa's power. My sister made me a visit there the day after Mr. Lovelace had been introduced; and seemed highly pleased with the gentleman. His birth, his fortune in possession, a clear 2000 l. per annum, as Lord M. had assured my uncle; presumptive heir to that nobleman's large estate: His great expectations from Lady Sarah
- ↑ Her grandfather, in order to invite her to him, as often as her other friends would spare her, indulged her in erecting and fitting-up a dairy-house in her own taste. When finished, it was so much admired for its elegant simplicity and convenience, that the whole feat, before, of old time, from it's situation, called The Grove, was generally known by the name of The Dairy-house; her grandfather, particularly, was fond of having it so called.
