The marriage was forbidden and Mary was then swept off to her uncle’s house, where she was kept a virtual prisoner until Patrick had left Wethersfield. Patrick’s letters to her were intercepted and destroyed and her uncle made him return all her letters. When Mary opened the parcel containing her own letters she found in it a small card with Patrick’s likeness in profile on it and beneath it the words: ‘Mary, you have torn the heart; spare the face.’ Hearing no more from her lover, Mary eventually gave up all hope and resigned herself to the end of her engagement.100
