Political Campaigns 



She had been brought up in the Miss Edgeworth style, 

 and was so precious to her parents that she was hardly ever 

 allowed out of their sight. The natural consequence was, that, 

 no doubt with the connivance of servants who took pity on so 

 solitary a damsel, she contrived to make assignations with an 

 usher in the Caistor Grammar School called Heap. I need 

 hardly say, that, although his Christian name was otherwise, it 

 became and remained Uriah, and at the time when the case 

 with all its vagaries appeared in the London daily papers was 

 given as such. 



The end of the story is, that when old Uncle George and 

 his good wife departed this life and were safely laid away in 

 the family vault, Mary Anne found herself in absolute posses- 

 sion of something like ^80,000, nearly all of which was invested 

 in houses, land, etc., in Caistor, and carried parliamentary votes 

 influenced by her, enough to turn an election either way, in the 

 Brigg division of Lincolnshire. By this time, however, she had 

 learned to appraise Mr. Heap at his proper valuation, and had 

 arrived at the conclusion that he was not so much in love with 

 her as with her fortune. She therefore sent him to the right- 

 about. 



But she had unfortunately reckoned without insight into 

 the Heap character, which must have been somewhat of the 

 11 Uriah " of Dickens' type, for her discarded lover at once 

 brought an action against her for breach of promise of 

 marriage. The late Mr. S. D. Waddy, Q.C., was her counsel, 

 and although the papers made immense fun out of the case, 

 Mary Anne got off with a comparatively trivial payment of 

 damages for her foolishness, and Mr. Waddy thereafter repre- 

 sented to her all that was valiant and chivalrous in mankind. 

 Moreover, my brother and his wife, not being adepts at wire- 

 pulling, omitted to call on their relation, to solicit her influence, 



135 



