She sent for Ernest, confessed she had wronged you, and, having sworn him to secrecy, got him to procure her escape.
"I had reason to fear Ernest, therefore did not dare to discharge him. My mind was always distracted, terror and guilt my constant companions, for I always dreaded a discovery.
"The clerk who had made the will went into Austria—he spent the money in dissipation—joined with a set of gamblers—frequently made demands upon me for money, accompanied with threats.
"At length news arrived of your death; then I thought my misery at an end, and my fears all done away. One only trouble remained: I had married solely that you nor your children should be benefited after my death: My wife seemed not likely to have children; your boy must inherit, that distracted me; I could not come at him, he was too well taken care of, and I was still in the power of Ernest during the life of Claudina.
