Nay, to prevent any other person from seeing him in this
light, it was agreed that the lady should proceed directly to Bath,
and that his lordship should first go to London, and thence should
go down to that place by the advice of his physicians.
Now all this Sophia very plainly understood, not from the lips or
behaviour of Mrs. Fitzpatrick, but from the peer, who was infinitely
less expert at retaining a secret than was the good lady; and
perhaps the exact secrecy which Mrs. Fitzpatrick had observed on
this head in her narrative, served not a little to heighten those
suspicions which were now risen in the mind of her cousin.
Sophia very easily found out the lady she sought; for indeed there
was not a chairman in town to whom her house was not perfectly well
known; and, as she received, in return of her first message, a most
pressing invitation, she immediately accepted it. Mrs. Fitzpatrick,
indeed, did not desire her cousin to stay with her with more
earnestness than civility required. Whether she had discerned and
resented the suspicion above-mentioned, or from what other motive it
arose, I cannot say; but certain it is, she was full as desirous of
parting with Sophia as Sophia herself could be of going.
The young lady, when she came to take leave of her cousin, could not
avoid giving her a short hint of advice. She begged her, for
heaven's sake, to care of herself, and to consider in how dangerous
a situation she stood; adding, she hoped some method would be found of
reconciling her to her husband.
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