maternal aunt. Lady Pelham helps Laura receive her annuity, but she is not religious and colludes with Colonel Hargrave. Laura learns of Hargrave's duel, and resolves to refuse him. Hargrave attempts to persuade her to marry him by more drastic measures - having her arrested under false pretenses, tricking her into joining a gambling party, and when Lady Pelham dies, Hargrave kidnaps Laura and takes her to the wilderness of America. He plans to rape and then force Laura into marriage - she fakes her own death by escaping down the rapids in a canoe, which she ties herself to. Hargrave commits suicide, and Laura returns to her home country, where she marries Montague De Courcy and has five children with him.