Whether he was or was not in earnest then, I think
that he has now determined to forget it. I fear there is no doubt that he
has been making love to his cousin, Lady Eustace. You well know that I
should not mention such a thing, if I had not the strongest possible
grounds to convince me that I ought to do so. But, independent of this,
his conduct to you during the last six months has been such as to make us
all feel sure that the engagement is distasteful to him. He has probably
found himself so placed that he cannot marry without money, and has wanted
the firmness, or perhaps you will say the hardness of heart, to say so
openly. I am sure of this, and so is Amelia, that it will be better for
you to give the matter up altogether, and to come here and recover the
blow among friends who will be as kind to you as possible. I know all that
you will feel, and you have my fullest sympathy; but even such sorrows as
that are cured by time, and by the mercy of God, which is not only
infinite, but all-powerful.
"Your most affectionate friend,
"C. FAWN."
Lady Fawn, when she had written her letter, discussed it with Amelia, and
the two together agreed that Lucy would never surmount the ill effects of
the blow which was thus prophesied.
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