st they should take him off by some
means or other; and, even then, seemed disposed to contribute
towards the support of the friendless orphan, and to inquire more
circumstantially into the nature of his claim. In the meantime his
occasions called him to France, and during his absence Mr. A-- arrived
in London in the month of October, 174l."

Here the clergyman was interrupted by Peregrine, who said there was
something so extraordinary, not to call it improbable, in the account he
had heard of the young gentleman's being sent into exile, that he would
look upon himself as infinitely obliged to the doctor, if he would
favour him with a true representation of that transaction, as well as of
the manner in which he arrived and was known at the Island of Jamaica.

The parson, in compliance with our hero's request, taking up the story
from the beginning, "Mr. A--," said he, "is the son of Arthur, late lord
baron of A--, by his wife Mary S--, natural daughter to John, duke of
B-- and N--, whom he publicly married on the 21st day of July, 1706,
contrary to the inclination of his mother, and all his other relations,
particularly of Arthur, late earl of A--, who bore an implacable enmity
to the duke her father, and, for that reason, did all that lay in his
power to traverse the marriage; but, finding his endeavours ineffectual,
he was so much offended, that he would never be perfectly reconciled to
Lord A--, though he was his presumptive heir. After their nuptials,
they cohabited together in England for the space of two or three years,
during which she miscarried more than once; and he being a man of
levity, and an extravagant disposition, not only squandered away all
that he had received of his wife's fortune, but also contracted many
considerable debts, which obliged him to make a precipitate retreat into
Ireland, leaving his lady behind him in the house with his mother and
sister, who, having also been averse to the match, had always looked
upon her with eyes of disgust.

"It was not likely that harmony should long subsist in this family,
especially as Lady A-- was a woman of a lofty spirit, who could not
tamely bear insults and ill-usage from persons who, she had reason to
believe, were her enemies at heart. Accordingly, a misunderstanding
soon happened among them, which was fomented by the malice of one of her
sisters-in-law. Divers scandalous reports of her misconduct, to which
the empty pretensions of a vain wretched cox