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Two Ghostly Mysteries - A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family; and the Murdered Cousin by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
page 73 of 90 (81%)
He gave me his hand--it was cold and damp as death; under an assumed
calmness, it was evident that he was fearfully agitated. He continued
to hold my hand with an almost painful pressure, while, as if
unconsciously, seeming to forget my presence, he muttered, "Strange,
strange, strange, indeed! fatuity, helpless fatuity!" there was here a
long pause. "Madness _indeed_ to strain a cable that is rotten to
the very heart; it must break--and then--all goes." There was again
a pause of some minutes, after which, suddenly changing his voice and
manner to one of wakeful alacrity, he exclaimed,

"Margaret, my son Edward shall plague you no more. He leaves this
country to-morrow for France; he shall speak no more upon this
subject--never, never more; whatever events depended upon your answer
must now take their own course; but as for this fruitless proposal, it
has been tried enough; it can be repeated no more."

At these words he coldly suffered my hand to drop, as if to express
his total abandonment of all his projected schemes of alliance; and
certainly the action, with the accompanying words, produced upon my
mind a more solemn and depressing effect than I believed possible to
have been caused by the course which I had determined to pursue; it
struck upon my heart with an awe and heaviness which _will_ accompany
the accomplishment of an important and irrevocable act, even though
no doubt or scruple remains to make it possible that the agent should
wish it undone.

"Well," said my uncle, after a little time, "we now cease to speak
upon this topic, never to resume it again. Remember you shall have
no farther uneasiness from Edward; he leaves Ireland for France
to-morrow; this will be a relief to you; may I depend upon your
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