( 22 )
ſome degree reconciled me to the notion of a Providence; the villain Linmore, who had made that country his refuge was in priſon when I arrived there, implicated in a charge of murder. He was executed and diſſected. I obtained his ſcull at a large price. Diſguſted at the ſcenes that paſſed before me. I embraced the firſt opportunity of returning to England, and bought the eſtate of the Abbey near your uncle's. Its diſtance from any other dwelling, the romantic ſcenery around it, and the gloomy walks among the Abbey ruins, accorded with my ſoul's ſadneſs. —— The old woman I retained as a ſervant, had lived ſome time in the houſe before I bought it. I depoſited the coffin-lid and the ſcull in my ſtudy; and from that moment the poor woman would never enter the room.
"I flew for amuſement to chemiſtry, electricity, and anatomy; but grew tired of each. I in general kept cloſe at home all day, and walked among the ruins when others ſlept. Among a few other memorandums of former bliſs, I had reſerved my dear Ellinor's harp —— it had been her delight. Annexed to theſe memoirs you will find ſeveral pieces of poetry, which I compoſed at midnight in the Abbey, they all relate to my dear Ellinor. Let this memorandum ſometimes claim a place in your thoughts. (It was a miniature of Mental, done in his youth; ah, how unlike to his preſent appearance! —— George placed it in his boſom, and reſumed Mental's narrative.)——Now papers, and various publications, ſhewed me the buſtling ſcenes of life in which I gazed an unconcerned ſpectator. Yet there was ſtill one object for whom my heart felt an intereſt: my daughter often ſtarted to my memory, and pained me for her fate in ſuch a world of treachery and woe. I heard frequently from her governeſs, but could never bring myſelf to her. The accounts I received were
