tally! Oh! my Louisa,' continued he, 'and do I then
lose thee by my own impatience! Had I, like thee, submitted to the
disposition of providence, had I waited, from its mighty power, that
relief which it alone can give, I might now be expecting with rapture
the hour that should have united us for ever, instead of preparing for
that which shall summon me to the grave, where even thou shalt be
forgotten, and the last traces of thy lovely image effaced from my too
faithful remembrance. How just are the decrees of the Almighty! Thy
patience, thy resignation and uncommon virtues are rewarded as they
ought; my petulance, my impatience, which, as it were, flew in the face
of my Maker, and fought to lose a life which he had entrusted to my
keeping, and required me to preserve, is deservedly punished. I am
deprived of that existence which I would now endure whole ages of pain
to recall, were it to be done, but it is past and I submit to thy
justice, thou all wise disposer of my fate.'

The agitation of Sir Edward's mind had given him a flow of false
spirits, but at length they failed, leaving him only the more exhausted.
He kept Mrs Thornby's letter on his pillow, and read it many times.
Frequent were his expressions of regret for his own rashness, and he
felt much concern from the fear that Louisa would be shocked with his
death. Her mother's proceedings convinced him she was not void of regard
for him; he now saw that he had not vainly flattered himself when he
imagined, from many little circumstances, that her heart spoke in his
favour; and the force she must have put on her affections raised his
opinion of her almost to adoration. He often told his faithful attendant
that in those moments he felt a joy beyond what he had ever yet
experienced, in believing Louisa loved him; but these emotions were soon
checked by reflecting, that if she did so, she could not hear of his
death without suffering many heart-felt pangs.

He lingered for three days, without the least encouragement to hope for
life, and on the last died with great resignation, receiving his death
as a punishment justly due to his want of submission in the divine will,
and that forward petulance which drove him to desperation in not
succeeding to his wishes just at the time that to his impetuous
passions, and short-sighted reason, appeared most desirable.

The afflicted steward wrote an account, of this melancholy event to Lady
Lambton, and stayed to attend Sir Ed