accident, the son of a breeder of horses, a
respectable and honest man. When I was about twenty he died, leaving me,
his only child, a comfortable property, consisting of about two hundred
acres of land and some fifteen hundred pounds in money. My mother had
died about three years previously. I felt the death of my mother keenly,
but that of my father less than was my duty; indeed, truth compels me to
acknowledge that I scarcely regretted his death. The cause of this want
of proper filial feeling was the opposition which I had experienced from
him in an affair which deeply concerned me. I had formed an attachment
for a young female in the neighbourhood, who, though poor, was of highly
respectable birth, her father having been a curate of the Established
Church. She was, at the time of which I am speaking, an orphan, having
lost both her parents, and supported herself by keeping a small school.
My attachment was returned, and we had pledged our vows, but my father,
who could not reconcile himself to her lack of fortune, forbade our
marriage in the most positive terms. He was wrong, for she was a fortune
in herself--amiable and accomplished. Oh! I cannot tell you all she
was--" and here the old man drew his hand across his eyes. "By the death
of my father, the only obstacle to our happiness appeared to be removed.
We agreed, therefore, that our marriage should take place within the
course of a year; and I forthwith commenced enlarging my house and
getting my affairs in order. Having been left in the easy circumstances
which I have described, I determined to follow no business, but to pass
my life in a strictly domestic manner, and to be very, very happy.
Amongst other property derived from my father were several horses, which
I disposed of in this neighbourhood, with the exception of two remarkably
fine ones, which I determined to take to the next fair at Horncastle, the
only place where I expected to be able to obtain what I considered to be
their full value. At length the time arrived for the commencement of the
fair, which was within three months of the period which my beloved and
myself had fixed upon for the celebration of our nuptials. To the fair I
went, a couple of trusty men following me with the horses. I soon found
a purchaser for the animals, a portly, plausible person, of about forty,
dressed in a blue riding coat, brown top boots, and leather breeches.
There was a strange-looking urchin with him, a