Here, too, he was disappointed; and then all was afloat, in the
painful incertitude of doubt and conjecture.
For many hours, a secret distrust of the motives of his wife caused
Middleton to proceed in the search with delicacy and caution. But as
day dawned, without restoring her to the arms of her father or her
husband, reserve was thrown aside, and her unaccountable absence was
loudly proclaimed. The enquiries after the lost Inez were now direct
and open; but they proved equally fruitless. No one had seen her, or
heard of her, from the moment that she left the cottage of her nurse.
Day succeeded day, and still no tidings rewarded the search that was
immediately instituted, until she was finally given over, by most of
her relations and friends, as irretrievably lost.
An event of so extraordinary a character was not likely to be soon
forgotten. It excited speculation, gave rise to an infinity of
rumours, and not a few inventions. The prevalent opinion, among such
of those emigrants who were over-running the country, as had time, in
the multitude of their employments, to think of any foreign concerns,
was the simple and direct conclusion that the absent bride was no more
nor less than a felo de se.
Pages:
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354