But I
give my free and hearty consent, providing the settlements are drawn in
such an irrevocable form as may secure my child from suffering by
that state of dependence, and that sudden and causeless revocation of
allowances, of which I have so much reason to complain. Of Sir Frederick
Langley, I augur, you will hear no more. He is not likely to claim the
hand of a dowerless maiden. I therefore commit you, my dear Isabella, to
the wisdom of Providence and to your own prudence, begging you to lose
no time in securing those advantages, which the fickleness of your
kinsman has withdrawn from me to shower upon you.
"Mr. Ratcliffe mentioned Sir Edward's intention to settle a considerable
sum upon me yearly, for my maintenance in foreign parts; but this my
heart is too proud to accept from him. I told him I had a dear child,
who, while in affluence herself, would never suffer me to be in poverty.
I thought it right to intimate this to him pretty roundly, that whatever
increase be settled upon you, it may be calculated so as to cover this
necessary and natural encumbrance.
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