"
But poker and tongs were, it seems, the missiles which Mrs. Byron
preferred, and which she, more than once, sent resounding after her
fugitive son. In the present instance, he was but just in time to
avoid a blow aimed at him with the former of these weapons, and to
make a hasty escape to the house of a friend in the neighbourhood;
where, concerting the best means of baffling pursuit, he decided upon
an instant flight to London. The letters, which I am about to give,
were written, immediately on his arrival in town, to some friends at
Southwell, from whose kind interference in his behalf, it may fairly
be concluded that the blame of the quarrel, whatever it may have been,
did not rest with him. The first is to Mr. Pigot, a young gentleman
about the same age as himself, who had just returned, for the
vacation, from Edinburgh, where he was, at that time, pursuing his
medical studies.
LETTER 2.
TO MR. PIGOT.
"16. Piccadilly, August 9. 1806.
"My dear Pigot,
"Many thanks for your amusing narrative of the last proceedings of
----, who now begins to feel the effects of her folly. I have just
received a penitential epistle, to which, apprehensive of pursuit, I
have despatched a moderate answer, with a _kind_ of promise to return
in a fortnight;--this, however (_entre nous_), I never mean to fulfil.
Seriously, your mother has laid me under great obligations, and you,
with the rest of your family, merit my warmest thanks for your kind
connivance at my escape.
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