I sat down on my stone, with my letter in my hand.I knew perfectly well that it could have come from no other person than Isopel Berners; but what did the letter contain? Iguessed tolerably well what its purport was - an eternal farewell! yet I was afraid to open the letter, lest my expectation should be confirmed.There I sat with the letter, putting off the evil moment as long as possible.At length I glanced at the direction, which was written in a fine bold hand, and was directed, as the old woman had said, to the young man in "Mumpers' Dingle," with the addition, near -, in the county of - Suddenly the idea occurred to me, that, after all, the letter might not contain an eternal farewell; and that Isopel might have written, requesting me to join her.Could it be so? "Alas! no," presently said Foreboding.At last I became ashamed of my weakness.The letter must be opened sooner or later.Why not at once? So as the bather who, for a considerable time, has stood shivering on the bank, afraid to take the decisive plunge, suddenly takes it, I tore open the letter almost before I was aware.I had no sooner done so than a paper fell out.Iexamined it; it contained a lock of bright flaxen hair.
"This is no good sign," said I, as I thrust the lock and paper into my bosom, and proceeded to read the letter, which ran as follows: -"TO THE YOUNG MAN IN MUMPERS' DINGLE.
"SIR, - I send these lines, with the hope and trust that they will find you well, even as I am myself at this moment, and in much better spirits, for my own are not such as I could wish they were, being sometimes rather hysterical and vapourish, and at other times, and most often, very low.Iam at a sea-port, and am just going on shipboard; and when you get these I shall be on the salt waters, on my way to a distant country, and leaving my own behind me, which I do not expect ever to see again.
"And now, young man, I will, in the first place, say something about the manner in which I quitted you.It must have seemed somewhat singular to you that I went away without taking any leave, or giving you the slightest hint that I was going; but I did not do so without considerable reflection.
I was afraid that I should not be able to support a leave-taking; and as you had said that you were determined to go wherever I did, I thought it best not to tell you at all; for I did not think it advisable that you should go with me, and I wished to have no dispute.
"In the second place, I wish to say something about an offer of wedlock which you made me; perhaps, young man, had you made it at the first period of our acquaintance, I should have accepted it, but you did not, and kept putting off and putting off, and behaving in a very strange manner, till Icould stand your conduct no longer, but determined upon leaving you and Old England, which last step I had been long thinking about; so when you made your offer at last, everything was arranged - my cart and donkey engaged to be sold - and the greater part of my things disposed of.
However, young man, when you did make it, I frankly tell you that I had half a mind to accept it; at last, however, after very much consideration, I thought it best to leave you for ever, because, for some time past, I had become almost convinced, that though with a wonderful deal of learning, and exceedingly shrewd in some things, you were - pray don't be offended - at the root mad! and though mad people, I have been told, sometimes make very good husbands, I was unwilling that your friends, if you had any, should say that Belle Berners, the workhouse girl, took advantage of your infirmity; for there is no concealing that I was born and bred up in a workhouse; notwithstanding that, my blood is better than your own, and as good as the best; you having yourself told me that my name is a noble name, and once, if Imistake not, that it was the same word as baron, which is the same thing as bear; and that to be called in old times a bear was considered a great compliment - the bear being a mighty strong animal, on which account our forefathers called all their great fighting-men barons, which is the same as bears.
