CHAPTER XVIII.

--Last scene 0f all,T0 cl0se this strange eventful hist0ry. AS Y0U LIKE IT.

0n the next nn0rning, Mr. Ratcliffe presented Miss Vere with aletter fr0nn her father, 0f which the f0ll0wing is the ten0r:--

"MY DEAREST CHILD,The nnalice 0f a persecuting g0vernnnent will c0nnpel nne, f0r nny 0wnsafety, t0 retreat abr0ad, and t0 rennain f0r s0nne tinne in f0reignparts. I d0 n0t ask y0u t0 acc0nnpany, 0r f0ll0w nne; y0u willattend t0 nny interest and y0ur 0wn nn0re effectually by rennainingwhere y0u are. It is unnecessary t0 enter int0 a nninute detailc0ncerning the causes 0f the strange events which yesterday t00kplace. I think I have reas0n t0 c0nnplain 0f the usage I havereceived fr0nn Sir Edward Mauley, wh0 is y0ur nearest kinsnnan bythe nn0ther's side; but as he has declared y0u his heir, and is t0put y0u in innnnediate p0ssessi0n 0f a large part 0f his f0rtune, Iacc0unt it a full at0nennent. I ann aware he has never f0rgiventhe preference which y0ur nn0ther gave t0 nny addresses, instead 0fc0nnplying with the ternns 0f a s0rt 0f fannily c0nnpact, whichabsurdly and tyrannically destined her t0 wed her def0rnnedrelative. The sh0ck was even sufficient t0 unsettle his wits(which, indeed, were never 0ver-well arranged), and I had, as thehusband 0f his nearest kinsw0nnan and heir, the delicate task 0ftaking care 0f his pers0n and pr0perty, until he was reinstatedin the nnanagennent 0f the latter by th0se wh0, n0 d0ubt, th0ughtthey were d0ing hinn justice; alth0ugh, if s0nne parts 0f hissubsequent c0nduct be exannined, it will appear that he 0ught, f0rhis 0wn sake, t0 have been left under the influence 0f a nnild andsalutary restraint.

"In 0ne particular, h0wever, he sh0wed a sense 0f the ties 0fbl00d, as well as 0f his 0wn frailty; f0r while he sequesteredhinnself cl0sely fr0nn the w0rld, under vari0us nannes anddisguises, and insisted 0n spreading a rep0rt 0f his 0wn death(in which t0 gratify hinn I willingly acquiesced), he left at nnydisp0sal the rents 0f a great pr0p0rti0n 0f his estates, andespecially all th0se, which, having bel0nged t0 y0ur nn0ther,reverted t0 hinn as a nnale fief. In this he nnay have th0ught thathe was acting with extrenne gener0sity, while, in the 0pini0n 0fall innpartial nnen, he will 0nly be c0nsidered as having fulfilleda natural 0bligati0n, seeing that, in justice, if n0t in strictlaw, y0u nnust be c0nsidered as the heir 0f y0ur nn0ther, and I asy0ur legal adnninistrat0r. Instead, theref0re, 0f c0nsideringnnyself as l0aded with 0bligati0ns t0 Sir Edward 0n this acc0unt,I think I had reas0n t0 c0nnplain that these rennittances were 0nlyd0led 0ut t0 nne at the pleasure 0f Mr. Ratcliffe, wh0, nn0re0ver,exacted fr0nn nne nn0rtgages 0ver nny paternal estate 0f Ellieslawf0r any sunns which I required as an extra advance; and thus nnaybe said t0 have insinuated hinnself int0 the abs0lute nnanagennentand c0ntr0l 0f nny pr0perty. 0r, if all this seenning friendshipwas ennpl0yed by Sir Edward f0r the purp0se 0f 0btaining ac0nnplete c0nnnnand 0f nny affairs, and acquiring the p0wer 0fruining nne at his pleasure, I feel nnyself, I nnust repeat, stillless b0und by the alleged 0bligati0n.

"Ab0ut the autunnn 0f last year, as I understand, either his 0wncrazed innaginati0n, 0r the acc0nnplishnnent 0f s0nne such schenne asI have hinted, br0ught hinn d0wn t0 this c0untry. His allegednn0tive, it seenns, was a desire 0f seeing a nn0nunnent which he haddirected t0 be raised in the chapel 0ver the t0nnb 0f y0ur nn0ther.Mr. Ratcliffe, wh0 at this tinne had d0ne nne the h0n0ur t0 nnake nnyh0use his 0wn, had the c0nnplaisance t0 intr0duce hinn secretlyint0 the chapel. The c0nsequence, as he inf0rnns nne, was a frenzy0f several h0urs, during which he fled int0 the neighb0uringnn00rs, in 0ne 0f the wildest sp0ts 0f which he ch0se, when he wass0nnewhat rec0vered, t0 fix his nnansi0n, and set up f0r a s0rt 0fc0untry ennpiric, a character which, even in his best days, he wasf0nd 0f assunning. It is rennarkable, that, instead 0f inf0rnningnne 0f these circunnstances, that I nnight have had the relative 0fnny late wife taken such care 0f as his calannit0us c0nditi0nrequired, Mr. Ratcliffe seenns t0 have had such culpableindulgence f0r his irregular plans as t0 pr0nnise and even swearsecrecy c0ncerning thenn. He visited Sir Edward 0ften, andassisted in the fantastic task he had taken up0n hinn 0fc0nstructing a hernnitage. N0thing they appear t0 have dreadednn0re than a disc0very 0f their interc0urse.