I require one,' he added, after
a momentary pause, but in an agitated voice. 'I must seek one. Yes! my
dear father, it is of this that I would speak to you; it is this which
for a long time has oppressed my spirit, and filled me often with
intolerable gloom. We must separate. I must leave you, I must leave
that dear mother, those beloved parents, in whom are concentred all
my earthly affections; but I obey an impulse that I believe comes
from above. Dearest and best of men, you will not thwart me; you will
forgive, you will aid me!' And he advanced and threw himself into the
arms of his father.
The duke pressed Lord Montacute to his heart, and endeavoured, though
himself agitated and much distressed, to penetrate the mystery of this
ebullition. 'He says we must separate,' thought the duke to himself.
'Ah! he has lived too much at home, too much alone; he has read and
pondered too much; he has moped. Eskdale was right two years ago. I wish
I had sent him to Paris, but his mother was so alarmed; and, indeed,
'tis a precious life! The House of Commons would have been just the
thing for him. He would have worked on committees and grown practical.
But something must be done for him, dear child! He says we must
separate; he wants to travel.
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