lemn
act--not exactly a pledge, that would bind her in the least, more
than her own resolutions had already bound her--but a pledge to
Wilton's heart--a pledge to which in after years she could always
refer, if at any time the hand of another man should be proposed to
her.
She had wept while she had written it, but it had given her deep
satisfaction to do that act; for she figured to her self the balm,
the consolation, the support which it would be to him that she loved
best on earth--yes, best on earth; for though she loved her father
deeply, she loved Wilton more.
When the high command went forth, "Thou shalt leave all on earth and
cleave unto thy husband or thy wife," the God that made the ordinance
fashioned the human heart for its accomplishment. It would seem
treating a high subject somewhat lightly, perhaps, to say that it may
even be by the will of God that parents so very frequently behave ill
or unkindly to their children in the matter of their marriage, in
order to lessen the breaking of that great tie--in order that the
scion may be stripped from the stem more easily. But it were well if
parents thought of the effect that they produce in their children's
affection towards them by such conduct; for youth is tenacious of the
memories of unkindness, and often retains the unpleasant impression
that it makes, when the prejudices that produced it have passed away.
However that might be, Laura loved Wilton, as we have said, best on
earth; she had a duty to perform to him, and she had a duty to
perform to her father, and she determined to perform them both; for
she believed--and she was right--that no two duties are ever
incompatible: the greater must swallow up the less; and to let it do
so, is a duty in itself; but in the present instance there were two
duties which were perfectly compatible. She would never marry Wilton
while her father opposed; but she would never marry any one else; for
she felt that in heart she was already wedded unto him.
The words that she wrote gave Wilton that assurance, and it was a
bright and happy assurance to him: for so long as there is nothing
irrevocable in the future, the space which it affords gives room for
Hope to spread her wings; and though he might feel bitterly and
deeply depressed by the conduct of the Duke, and the stern
determination which he had displayed, yet with love--with mutual
love, and firmness of heart on both sides, he thought that happiness
might be indeed delayed, but was not permanently los