servant in disguise, and that in truth she was only his mistress. I had
been dismissed the service through him--I will speak of that anon--the
chaplain was dead--she did not even know his name or mine--how could she
help herself? She never held up her head after this. She refused all
support from him, though he offered to settle upon her a considerable
pension. For five years she supported herself by teaching music at
Florence, whither she removed with an attendant whom her gentle manners
had attached to her, and from whom, years after, I learned these
particulars. She never would, however, consent to sign any papers which
would affect her own or her son's rights, nor would she part with the
certificate of marriage the chaplain had given her, though he tried hard
to obtain them, as also the letters he had written to her from the ship
at different times in which he had always addressed her as his wife. But
her constitution had received a shock from which it never recovered, and
at the expiration of that time she died. His agent, who had been
secretly watching her by his orders, took the boy to England, where he
was sent to a distant school for education under a feigned name, and at
the age of fifteen sent to sea--where, as he was believed to be a
natural son of the Earl, and the latter favored that assumption, his
advancement was rapid; not more so, however, than his gallantry and good
conduct deserved, for I often heard his name mentioned with applause,
though I little dreamed then who he was, or how closely the fortunes of
those I loved the best were connected with him. He was your father,
Edward, and the proud man who now usurps your title and your fortune is
a bastard!'

The look of high reserve that flashed in the young man's eyes as he
listened to the tale, contrasted well while it agreed with the stern,
implacable, expression of the mariner's countenance, which deepened, if
possible, as he proceeded.