"Do tell me when Lord Avondale returns.
They say there has been a real
rising in the north: but Trelawney thinks
people make a great deal of nothing at
all: he says, for his part, he believes it
is all talk and nonsense. We are going
to London, where I hope you will meet
us. Good bye to you, dear coz. Write
merrily, and as you used. My motto,
you know, is, laugh whilst you can,
and be grave when you must. I have
written a long letter to my mother and
Sophia; but do not ask to see it. Indeed,
I would tell you all, if I were not
afraid you'd be so foolish as to vex yourself
about what cannot be helped."
Lady Avondale did vex herself;
and this letter from Frances made her
mad. The punishment of crime was
then at hand:—Glenarvon had betrayed,
had abandoned her. Yet was it possible,
or was it not the malice of Frances who
wished to vex her? Calantha could not
