Count de la Tour d'Auvergne, and where I could find him; for I knew
questions de vive voix aid the flagging recollection, and I was
determined to lose no chance for want of trouble. But Sir Philip had
gone abroad, and it would be some time before I could receive an
answer. So I followed my uncle's advice, to whom I had mentioned how
wearied I felt, both in body and mind, by my will-o'-the-wisp search.
He immediately told me to go to Harrogate, there to await Sir
Philip's reply. I should be near to one of the places connected with
my search, Coldholme; not far from Sir Philip Tempest, in case he
returned, and I wished to ask him any further questions; and, in
conclusion, my uncle bade me try to forget all about my business for
a time.

This was far easier said than done. I have seen a child on a common
blown along by a high wind, without power of standing still and
resisting the tempestuous force. I was somewhat in the same
predicament as regarded my mental state. Something resistless seemed
to urge my thoughts on, through every possible course by which there
was a chance of attaining to my object. I did not see the sweeping
moors when I walked out: when I held a book in my hand, and read the
words, their sense did not penetrate to my brain. If I slept, I went
on with the same ideas, always flowing in the same direction. This
could not last long without having a bad effect on the body. I had
an illness, which, although I was racked with pain, was a positive
relief to me, as it compelled me to live in the present suffering,
and not in the visionary researches I had been continually making
before. My kind uncle came to nurse me; and after the immediate
danger was over, my life seemed to slip away in delicious languor for
two or three months. I did not ask--so much did I dread falling into
the old channel of thought--whether any reply had been received to my