ARTHUR
43

Arthur's pause allows his auditors to ponder the details of his narrative, and compare it to facts with the knowledge their own observations have provided. My profession introduced me to friendship. Wentworth, with whom, after Welbeck's disappearance, many circumstances honoring him have been mentioned. He specifically thought about the behavior and appearance of this young man, at one interview that took place between them, and his representation was very much in line with that delivered by Arthur himself.

Before this interview, Welbeck had insinuated that a recent event had left him with a truth that honors Clavering's destiny. A relative of his had arrived from Portugal, by which this intelligence was brought. He deftly avoids his application to be supplemented with smaller information, or to introduce this relative to his acquaintances. As soon as Arthur is ushered before him, he suspects him of being alluded to by Welbeck, and this suspicion has been confirmed by his conversation. He was at a loss to understand the reason for the silence he maintained very carefully.

His anxiety, however, prompted him to renew his plea. On the day after the disaster told by Mervyn, he sent an envoy to Welbeck, with a request to meet him. Gabriel, the black servant, told the messenger that his master had been away to the countryside for a week. At the end of the week, a messenger was sent again with the same task. He called and knocked, but no one answered the signal. He checked the entrance near the kitchen, but every street was closed. The house seems completely empty.

The appearance of course gave birth to curiosity and suspicion. The house was repeatedly inspected, but the silence and silence within it remained the same. Welbeck's creditors were shocked by these sightings, and their claim to the property left in the house was obstructed by Mrs. Wentworth, who, as the owner of the mansion, was legally entitled to the furniture, replaced the rent that Welbeck had.

While inspecting the residence, all valuables and portable items, especially linens and plates, were removed. The rest were desperate, but the hustle and bustle of pestilence worked and prevented it from being sold. Things were allowed to continue in the previous situation, and the house was carefully secured. We have no free time to make any guesses about the cause of this desertion. The explanation was given to us by this young man's narrative. It was likely that the servants, who found their master's absence continuing, had looted the house and fled.

Meanwhile, although our curiosity about Welbeck has been assuaged, it is clear to inquire with a series of persuasions and events what Mervyn did to the city and lead to the place where I first met him. We expressed our desire in this, and our young friend gladly agreed to take the thread of his story and take it to the desired point. For this purpose, the next night was chosen. After, in the early hours, shutting himself off from all intruders and visitors, he continued as follows.

I have mentioned that, by sunrise, I had traveled miles from the city. My goal was to stop at the farmhouse first, and find a job as a day laborer. The first person I observed was a simple-looking man and dressed modestly. The virtues of habit are evident amid the wrinkles of age. He crossed his test field, and measured, as it were, the now almost ripe harvest.

I greeted him timidly, and explained my wish. He listened to my story with complacency, asking for my name and family, and my qualifications for the job I aspired to be in. My answer is honest and complete.

This good man's behavior fills me with gratitude and joy. I thought I could hug him as a father, and the entrance to his house looked like a return to a long-lost, much-loved home. My desolate and desolate condition seemed to change due to father's respect and the tenderness of friendship.

These emotions are affirmed and enhanced by every object that presents itself under this roof. The family consists of Ms . Hadwin, two simple and affectionate girls, his daughters, and his servant. This family manners, quiet, artless, and friendly, the work that was given to me, the land where the residence was surrounded, the pure air, the romantic walks, and the, and endless fertility, a strong contrast to the scenery I have left behind, and matched with every dictation of my understanding and every sentiment that shone in my heart.

My youth, mental cultivation, and cautious attitude, gave me respect and confidence. Every hour confirms me in the good opinion of Mr. Hadwin, and in the affection of his daughters. In my employer's mind, the farmer's simplicity and Quaker's devotion were mixed with humanity and intelligence. The sisters, Susan and Eliza, were not acquainted with disaster and crime through the medium of observation or books. They are no strangers to the complex benefits of education, but they are endowed with curiosity and wisdom, and do not experience the lean means of teaching to remain unenhanced.

The older tranquility forms a comical contrast with the laughing eyes and the untameable agility of the younger ones; but they smile and cry together. They think and act in a different but not discordant key. On all important occasions, they reason and feel the same. In ordinary cases, they seem to part into different paths; but this diversity does not produce rumbling, but harmony.

A romantic, untutored character like myself might be held responsible for the strong impression of constant conversation with people their age and gender. The elder was soon known to have thrown away his affection. The younger ones are free, and somewhat easier to understand than named steal without feeling in my heart. The shadows that haunted me at home and abroad, in his absence and presence, gradually fused into one form, and gave birth to an unrelenting heartbeat and undefined hope. My days are but unbroken daydreams, and the night only calls for more vivid and equally enchanting ghosts.

The unforgettable incidents that have recently occurred have hardly compensated for my new sensations or diverted my contemplation from the present. My outlook was gradually directed towards leaning on the future, and in that I quickly discovered the cause of caution and fear. My current hard work is light, and sufficient for my livelihood in one circumstance; but marriage is the mother of new desires and new concerns. Mr. Hadwin's property was enough to finance his own frugal life, but, divided among his children, would be too little for both. Moreover, this division can only take place at the time of his death, and it is an event whose rapid emergence is neither desirable nor possible.