Excerpt from The Golden Bait, Vol. 2 of 3: A Novel Oh! Could that past but come again, or her hasty promise be recalled, how gladly would She have fallen upon her knees and thanked her God for her release from misery! A life of penury and woe, contrasted with that stranger's wealth, and all his wealth could buy, would be a happiness beyond comparison, and nothing he left to wish for, or desire, so that Frederick and herself could be as they once were, and the fatal Yes be unsaid that bound her to another. Would Ellerton free her from her engagement and release her if she requested it? Or would he tax her with dishonourable conduct, and say She had promised what she never meant to per form. Would he not taunt and storm at her, grow wild with jealousy - and in revenge attempt some desperate mischief on the man she loved For his sake more than for her own, she felt that must not be; but that what she had been betrayed into through her haste and indiscretion she must take the consequences of, and submit to in just atonement for her fault. She had only partially recovered from her swoon, when the full force of her misery struck upon her heart and told her that from that time forward she had no hope; but that the bitterest self-reproach would wait upon her, and torment her, every hour of her life. She knew that she must suffer, and prepared to endure her punishment without complaining. She thought she had strength and fortitude left for that, and that she could hide her grief even from the eyes of those who loved her best. But there was one thing she could not do; stand quietly by and listen to her great-aunt's cruel observations Without protesting against her mean ness and injustice. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.