It was not until
some years after her marriage, that the Lady Russell discovered how
the consent of the earl of Bedford had been obtained. Till then,
she knew not that this consent had been withheld, until the Earl
of Somerset should give his daughter a large sum as her marriage
portion:--the Earl of Bedford calculating upon the difficulty, nay
almost impossibility, of his ever raising this sum.
But he had not calculated upon the devotion of the wretched father's
love to his fair and innocent child: and he was astounded when his
terms were complied with, and the money paid at once into his hands.
He could no longer withhold his consent; nor could he refuse some
admiration of this proof of a father's love for his child. The Lord
Somerset had, in fact, sold his whole possessions, and reduced himself
to an estate not far removed from beggary, to give his daughter the
husband of her choice.
It was the Lady Anne Carr, of whom Vandyke painted an exquisite and
well-known portrait, when Countess of Bedford. She was the mother of
William Lord Russell; and died heart-broken in her old age, when she
heard of the execution of her noble and first-born son.
This is, perhaps, one of Mr.
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