two after his
departure, Mr. Cranstoun wrote me a letter on the road, wherein he
begged me to make acceptable to my father his most grateful
acknowledgements for his late goodness to him. "This," he said, "had
made such an impression upon him, that he never should forget it as
long as he lived; and that he should always entertain the same tender
sentiments for him as for his father, the late Lord Cranstoun,[25]
himself, had he been then alive." In the same letter, he also desired
me to permit my letters to be directed by some body who wrote a more
masculine hand than mine; since otherwise they might be intercepted by
some one or other of Miss Murray's family, as they were jealous of the
affair carried on between us two. He likewise therein insisted upon my
subscribing myself "M.C." instead of "M.B." tho' he did not discover
to me the real view he had therein. Soon after he arrived at his
mother's, he wrote me another letter, wherein he informed me, that he
told his mother[26] we were married, and had been so for some time: and
that she would write to me, as her daughter, by the very next post.
This she did; and her letter came accompanied with one from her son,
wherein he desired me, if I loved him, to answer his mother's by the
return of the post, and sign myself "Mary Cranstoun" at length, as I
knew before God I was, by a solemn contract, entitled to that name.
This, he pretended, would make his mother stir more in the Scotch
affair. On the supposition that I was her daughter, she wrote many
tender letters to me, always directing to me by the name of "Mary
Cranstoun," and sent me some very handsome presents of Scotch linen.
He also obliged his eldest sister, Mrs. Selby,[27] and her husband, to
write to me as their sister. Lady Cranstoun likewise wrote to my
father in a very complaisant style, thanking him for the civilities he
had shewn her son; and hinting, that she hoped it would be in her
power to return them to me, when she should have the pleasure of
seeing me in Scotland, which she begged might be soon. Lord Cranstoun,
his brother, also wrote to my father, and returned him thanks in the
same polite manner. During this whole period, my father's behaviour to
me was very uncertain; but always good after he had received any of
these letters. In a few months, however, after Mr. Cranstoun's
departure, my father's temper was much altered for the worse. He
upbraided me with having rejected much better offers than any tha