15

dead these six weeks. Your long absence andcontinued Silence gave us all great uneasineſsand hastened her to the Grave. Your Journeyto Castle therefore may be spared. You do not tell us where you have been since the time of your quitting Carlisle, nor in any way account for your tedious absence, which gives us some surprise. We all unite in ComptsCompliments to Maria, & beg to know who she is –.

YrYour affec:teaffectionate Sister

M. Gower.

This Letter, by which Mr Gower was obliged toattribute to his own conduct, his Sister's death, was so violent a shock to his feelings, that inspite of his lifeliving1 at Evelyn where Illneſs was scarcely ever heard of, he was attacked by a fit of the gout, which confining him to his own room afforded an opportunity to Maria of shining in that favourite character of Sir Charles Gran::dison's, a nurse. No woman could ever appear more amiable than Maria did under such circumstances, and at last by her unremitting

Footnotes

1.
'living' written over erased word, possibly 'life'. Back to context...
Image for page: 15 of manuscript: blvolthird