Under these disastrous circumstances, her annuity suddenly ceased; she
had in vain tried to obtain a renewal of it from the widow, or even an
account of the state of her brother's affairs. Her letters for three
years past had remained unanswered, and she would have been exposed to
the horrors of the most abject want, but for a pittance quarterly doled
out to her by her cousin in England.
Colonel Wildman entered with characteristic benevolence into the story
of her troubles. He saw that she was a helpless, unprotected being,
unable, from her infirmities and her ignorance of the world, to
prosecute her just claims. He obtained from her the address of her
relations in America, and of the commercial connection of her brother;
promised, through the medium of his own agents in Liverpool, to
institute an inquiry into the situation of her brother's affairs, and
to forward any letters she might write, so as to insure their reaching
their place of destination.
Inspired with some faint hopes, the Little White Lady continued her
wanderings about the Abbey and its neighborhood. The delicacy and
timidity of her deportment increased the interest already felt for her
by Mrs.
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