[Page 3] THE HISTORY OF Clarissa Harlowe. VOL. V. LETTER I. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Thursday Morning, Eight o' clock. Her chamber-door has not yet been opened. I must not expect she will breakfast with me. Nor dine with me, I doubt. A little silly Soul, what troubles does she make to herself by her over-niceness!---All I have done to her, would have been looked upon as a frolick only, a romping-bout, and laughed off by Nine parts in Ten of the Sex accordingly. The more she makes of it, the more painful to herself, as well as to me. Why now, Jack, were it not better, upon her own notions, that she seemed not so sensible as she will make herself to be, if she is very angry? But...
LETTER II. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; King's-Arms, Pallmall, Thursday Two o' clock. Several billets passed between us before I went out, by the Internuncioship of Dorcas: For which reason mine are superscribed by her married name.---She would not open her door to receive them; lest I should be near it, I suppose: So Dorcas was forced to put them under the door (after copying them for thee); and thence to take the answers. Read them, if thou wilt, at this place. To Mrs. Lovelace. Indeed, my dearest Life, you carry this matter too far. What will the people below, who suppose us one as to the Ceremony, think of so great a Niceness? Liberties so innocent! the Occasion so accidental!---You will expose...
[Page 17] LETTER III. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Thursday Evening, June 8. O for a Curse to kill with!---Ruined! Undone! Outwitted! Tricked!---Zounds, man, the Lady is gone off!---Absolutely gone off! Escaped!--- Thou knowest not, nor canst conceive, the pangs that wring my heart!---What can I do!---O Lord, O Lord, O Lord! And thou, too, who hast endeavoured to weaken my hands, wilt but clap thy dragon's wings at the tidings! Yet I must write, or I shall go distracted. Little less have I been these two hours; dispatching messengers to every Stage, to every Inn, to every Waggon or Coach, whether flying or creeping, and to every house with a Bill up, for five miles round. The little hypocrite,...
LETTER IV. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; A letter is put into my hands by Wilson himself---Such a Letter! A Letter from Miss Howe to her cruel friend!--- I made no scruple to open it. It is a miracle that I fell not into fits at the reading of it; and at the thought of what might have been the consequence, had it come to the hands of this [Page 30] Clarissa Harlowe. Let my justly-excited rage excuse my irreverence. Collins, tho' not his day, brought it this afternoon to Wilson's, with a particular desire, that it might be sent with all speed to Miss Beaumont's lodgings, and given, if possible, into her own hands. He had before been here (at Mrs. Sinclair's) with intent to deliver it to the Lady...
LETTER V. Miss Clarissa Harlowe, To Miss Howe. Thursday Evening, June 8. After my last, so full of other hopes, the contents of This will surprise you. O my dearest friend, the man has at last proved himself to be a villain! It was with the utmost difficulty last night, that I preserved myself from the vilest dishonour. He extorted from me a promise of forgiveness; and that I would see him next day, as if nothing had happened: But if it were possible to escape from a wretch, who, as I have too much reason to believe, formed a plot to fire the house, to frighten me, almost naked, into his arms, how could I see him next day? I have escaped---Heaven be praised that I have!---And have now no other concern, than that I fly...
LETTER VI. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Friday Morning, past Two o' Clock. Io Triumphe! Io Clarissa, sing!---Once more, what a happy man thy friend!---A silly dear novice, to be heard to tell the coachman whither to carry her!---And to go to Hamstead, of all the villages about London!---The place where we had been together more than once! Methinks I am sorry she managed no better!---I shall find the recovery of her too easy a task, I fear! Had she but known how much difficulty enhances the value of any-thing with me, and had she had the least notion of obliging me by it, she would never have stopt short at Hamstead, surely. Well, but after all this exultation, thou wilt ask, 'If I have already got back my Charmer...
[Page 64] LETTER VII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Upper-Flask, Hamstead, Fri. morn. 7 o'clock. (June 9.). I am now here, and here have been this hour and half. What an industrious spirit have I!---Nobody can say, that I eat the Bread of idleness. I take true pains for all the pleasure I enjoy. I cannot but admire myself strangely; for, certainly, with this active soul, I should have made a very great figure in whatever station I had filled. But had I been a Prince! To be sure I should have made a most noble Prince! I should have led up a military dance equal to that of the great Macedonian. I should have added kingdom to kingdom, and despoiled all my neighbour-sovereigns, in order to have obtained the name of Robert...
LETTER VIII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Hamstead, Friday Night, June 9. Now, Belford, for the Narrative of narratives. I will continue it, as I have opportunity; and that so dextrously, that if I break off twenty times, thou shalt not discern where I piece my thread. Although grievously afflicted with the gout, I alighted out of my chariot (leaning very hard on my cane with one hand, and on my new servant's shoulder with the other) the same instant almost that he had knocked [Page 75] at the door, that I might be sure of admission into the house. I took care to button my great coat about me, and to cover with it even the pommel of my sword; it being a little too gay for my years. I knew not what occasion I...
LETTER IX. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; I thought it was now high time to turn my whole mind to my Beloved; who had had full leisure to weigh the contents of the Letters I had left with her. I therefore requested Mrs. Moore to step in, and desire to know, whether she would be pleased to admit me to attend her in her apartment, on occasion of the Letters I had left with her; or whether she would favour me with her company in the Dining-room? Mrs. Moore desired Miss Rawlins to accompany her in to the Lady. They tapped at her door, and were both admitted. I cannot but stop here for one minute, to remark, tho' against myself, upon that Security which Innocence gives, that nevertheless had better have in...
[Page 116] LETTER X. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; I will now give thee the substance of the dialogue that passed between the two women and the Lady. Wonder not, that a perverse Wife makes a listening Husband. The event, however, as thou wilt find, justified the old observation, That listeners seldom hear good of themselves. Conscious of their own demerits, if I may guess by myself [There's ingenuousness, Jack!] and fearful of censure, they seldom find themselves disappointed. There is something of sense, after all, in these proverbs, in these phrases, in this wisdom of nations. Mrs. Moore was to be the messenger; but Miss Rawlins began the dialogue. Your Spouse, Madam---[Devil!---Only to fish for a...
LETTER XI. Mr. Lovelace. In Continuation. We had at dinner, besides Miss Rawlins, a young Widow-niece of Mrs. Moore, who is come to stay a month with her Aunt---Bevis her name; very forward, very lively, and a great admirer of me, I assure you;---hanging smirkingly upon all I said; and prepared to approve of every word before I spoke: And who, by the time we had half-dined (by the help of what she had collected before) was as much acquainted with our Story, as either of the other two. As it behoved me to prepare them in my favour against whatever might come from Miss Howe, I improved upon the hint I had thrown out above-stairs against that mischief-making Lady. I represented her to be an arrogant creature, revengeful, artful...
[Page 139] LETTER XII. Mr. Lovelace. In Continuation. We had hardly dined, when my coachman, who kept a look-out for Captain Tomlinson, as Will. did for old Grimes, conducted hither that worthy gentleman, attended by one servant, both on horseback. He alighted. I went out to meet him at the door. Thou knowest his solemn appearance, and unblushing freedom; and yet canst not imagine what a dignity the rascal assumed, nor how respectful to him I was. I led him into the parlour, and presented him to the women, and them to him. I thought it highly imported me (as they might still have some diffidences about our Marriage, from my Fair-one's home-pushed questions on that head) to convince them entirely of the truth of...
LETTER XIII. Mr. Lovelace. In Continuation. It was now high time to acquaint my Spouse, that Captain Tomlinson was come. And the rather, as the maid told us, that the Lady had asked her, If such a gentleman [describing him] was not in the parlour? Mrs. Moore went up, and requested, in my name, that she would give us audience. But she returned, reporting my Beloved's desire, that Captain Tomlinson would excuse her for the present. She was very ill. Her spirits were too weak [Page 146] to enter into conversation with him; and she must lie down. I was vexed, and at first extremely disconcerted. The Captain was vexed too. And my concern, thou mayest believe, was the greater on his account. She had been...
LETTER XIV. Mr. Lovelace. In Continuation. I went up to my new-taken apartment, and fell to writing in character, as usual. I thought I had made good my quarters. But the cruel creature, understanding that I intended to take up my lodgings there, declared with so much violence against it, that I was obliged to submit, and to accept of another lodging, about twelve doors off, which Mrs. Moore recommended. And all the advantage I could obtain, [Page 152] was, that Will. unknown to my Spouse, and for fear of a freak, should lie in the house. Mrs. Moore, indeed, was unwilling to disoblige either of us. But Miss Rawlins was of opinion, that nothing more ought to be allowed me: And yet Mrs. Moore owned, that the refusal was...
LETTER XV. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Saturday, 6 o' clock, June 10. The Lady gave Will's Sweetheart a Letter last night to be carried to the Post-house as this morning, directed for Miss Howe, under cover to [Page 162] Hickman. I dare say neither Cover nor Letter will be seen to have been opened. The contents but eight lines---To own---'The receipt of her double-dated Letter in safety; and referring to a longer Letter, which she intends to write, when she shall have a quieter heart, and less trembling fingers. But mentions something to have happened [My detecting her, she means] which has given her very great flutters, confusions, and apprehensions: But which she will await the issue of [Some hopes for me hence, Jack!]...
LETTER XVI. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Eight o'clock, Sat. Morn. June 10. I am come back from Mrs. Moore's, whither I went in order to attend my Charmer's commands. But no admittance---A very bad night. Doubtless she must be as much concerned, that she has carried her resentments so very far, as I have reason to be, that I made such a poor use of the opportunity I had on Wednesday night. But now, Jack, for a brief review of my present situation; and a slight hint or two of my precautions. I have seen the women this morning, and find them half-right, half-doubting. [Page 164] Miss Rawlins's Brother tells her, that she lives at Mrs. Moore's. Mrs. Moore can do nothing without Miss Rawlins...
LETTER XVII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; From my Apartments at Mrs. Moore's. Miss Rawlins at her Brother's; Mrs. Moore engaged in houshold matters; Widow Bevis dressing; I have nothing to do but write. This cursed Tomlinson not yet arrived!---Nothing to be done without him. I think he shall complain in pretty high language of the treatment he met with yesterday. 'What are our affairs to him? He can have no view but to serve us. Cruel, to send back to town, un-audienced, unseen, a man of his business and importance. He never stirs a foot, but something of consequence depends upon his movements. A confounded thing to trifle thus humoursomely with such a gentleman's moments!---These women think, that all the business [...
LETTER XVIII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Sat. Night, June 10. What will be the issue of all my plots and contrivances, devil take me if I am able to divine. But I will not, as Lord M. would say, forestall my own market. At Four, the appointed hour, I sent up, to desire admittance in the Captain's name and my own. She would wait upon the Captain presently [Not upon me!]; and in the parlour, if it were not engaged. [Page 171] The dining-room being mine, perhaps that was the reason of her naming the parlour---Mighty nice again, if so!---No good sign for me, thought I, this stiff punctilio. In the parlour, with me and the Captain, were Mrs. Moore, Miss Rawlins, and Mrs. Bevis. The women...
LETTER XIX. Mr. Lovelace. In Continuation. The Lady staid longer above than we wished; and I hoping that (Lady-like) she only waited for an invitation to return to us, desired the Widow [Page 193] Bevis, in the Captain's name (who wanted to go to town) to request the favour of her company. I cared not to send up either Miss Rawlins or Mrs. Moore on the errand, lest my Beloved should be in a communicative disposition; especially as she had hinted at an appeal to Miss Rawlins; who, besides, has such an unbounded curiosity. Mrs. Bevis presently returned with an answer (winking and pinking at me) that the Lady would follow her down. Miss Rawlins could not but offer to retire, as the others did. Her eyes, however,...
LETTER XX. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; This debate between the Captain and me was hardly over, when the three women, led by Miss Rawlins, entered, hoping No intrusion---But very desirous, the Maiden said, to know if we were likely to accommodate. O yes, I hope so. You know, Ladies, that your Sex must, in these cases, preserve their Forms. They must be courted to comply with their own happiness. A lucky expedient we have hit upon. The Uncle has his doubts of our Marriage. He cannot believe, nor will any-body, that it is possible that a man so much in Love, the Lady so desirable--- They all took the hint---It was a very extraordinary case, the two widows allowed. Women, Jack, [as I believe I have observed (a) [...
LETTER XXI. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Sat. Midnight. No Rest, says a text that I once heard preached upon, to the wicked---And I cannot close my eyes (yet wanted only to compound for half an hour in an elbow-chair)---So must scribble on. I parted with the Captain, after another strong debate with him in relation to what is to be the Fate of this Lady. As the fellow has an excellent head, and would have made an eminent figure in any station of life, had not his early days been tainted with a deep crime, and he detected in it; and as he had the right side of the argument; I had a good deal of difficulty with him; and at last brought myself to promise, that if I could prevail upon her generously to forgive me, and to...
[Page 225] LETTER XXII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Sunday Morn. (June 11.) 4 o'Clock. A few words to the verbal information thou sentest me last night concerning thy poor old man; and then I rise from my seat, shake myself, refresh, new-dress, and so to my Charmer, whom, notwithstanding her reserves, I hope to prevail upon to walk out with me on the Heath, this warm and fine morning. The birds must have awakened her before now. They are in full song. She always gloried in accustoming herself to behold the Sun-rise; one of God's natural wonders, as once she called it. Her window salutes the East. The Valleys must be gilded by his rays, by the time I am with her; for already have they made the Up-lands...
[Page 227] LETTER XXIII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Sunday Morning. I have had the honour of my Charmer's company for two complete hours. We met before Six in Mrs. Moore's garden. A walk on the Heath refused me. The sedateness of her aspect, and her kind compliance in this meeting, gave me hopes. And all that either the Captain or I had urged yesterday to obtain a full and free pardon, that re-urged I; and I told her, besides, that Capt. Tomlinson was gone down with hopes to prevail upon her Uncle Harlowe to come up in person, in order to present to me the greatest blessing that man ever received. But the utmost I could obtain was, That she would take no resolution in my favour till she received Miss...
LETTER XXIV. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; The fair Inexorable is actually gone to church, with Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Bevis. But Will. closely attends her motions; and I am in the way to receive any occasional intelligence from him. She did not chuse [A mighty word with the Sex! as if they were always to have their own wills!] that I should wait upon her. I did not much press it, that she might not apprehend, that I thought I had reason to doubt her voluntary return. I once had it in my head to have found the widow Bevis other employment. And I believe she would have been as well pleased with my company as to go to church; for she seemed irresolute when I told her, that two out of a family were enough to go to...
LETTER XXV. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Sunday afternoon. O Belford! what a hair's-breadth escape have I had!---Such an one, that I tremble between terror and joy, at the thoughts of what might have happened, and did not. What a perverse girl is this, to contend with her Fate; yet has reason to think, that her very Stars fight against her! I am the luckiest of men!---But [Page 239] my breath almost fails me, when I reflect upon what a slender thread my Destiny hung. But not to keep thee in suspense; I have, within this half-hour, obtained possession of the expected Letter from Miss Howe---And by such an accident! But here, with the former, I dispatch this; thy messenger waiting.
LETTER XXVI. Mr. Lovelace. In Continuation. Thus it was---My Charmer accompanied Mrs. Moore again to church this afternoon. I had been very earnest, in the first place, to obtain her company at dinner: But in vain. According to what she had said to Mrs. Moore (a) [Footnote a: 1Kb] , I was too considerable to her to be allowed that favour. In the next place, I besought her to favour me, after dinner, with another garden-walk. But she would again go to church. And what reason have I to rejoice that she did! My worthy friend Mrs. Bevis thought one Sermon a day, well observed, enough; so staid at home to bear me company. The Lady and Mrs. Moore had not been gone a quarter of an hour, when a young Country-fellow on...
LETTER XXVII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; I have begun another Letter to thee, in continuation of my Narrative: But I believe I shall send thee this before I shall finish that. By the inclosed thou wilt see, that neither of the correspondents deserve mercy from me: And I am resolved to make the Ending with one, the Beginning with the other. If thou sayest, That the provocations I have given to one of them, will justify her freedoms; I answer, So they will, to any other person but myself. But he that is capable of giving those provocations, and has the power to punish those who abuse him for giving them, will shew his resentment; and the more remorslesly, perhaps, as he has deserved the freedoms. If thou sayest...
[Page 261] LETTER XXVIII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Sunday Night---Monday Morning. I went down with Revenge in my heart; the contents of Miss Howe's Letter almost engrossing me, the moment that Miss Harlowe and Mrs. Moore (accompanied by Miss Rawlins) came in: But in my countenance all the gentle, the placid, the serene, that the glass could teach; and in my behaviour all the polite, that such an unpolite creature, as she has often told me I am, could put on. Miss Rawlins was sent for home almost as soon as she came in, to entertain an unexpected visitor; to her great regret, as well as to the disappointment of my Fair-one, as I could perceive from the looks of both: For they had agreed, it seems, if I went...
LETTER XXIX. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Monday, June 12. Didst ever see a Licence, Jack? Edmund, by divine permission, Lord Bishop of London, To our well-beloved in Christ, Robert Lovelace [Your servant, my good Lord! What have I done to merit so much goodness, who never saw your Lordship in my life?] of the parish of St. Martin's in the Fields, Bachelor, and Clarissa Harlowe of the same parish, Spinster, sendeth greeting.---WHEREAS ye are, as is alleged, determined to enter into the holy State of Matrimony [This is only alleged, thou observest] by and with the consent of, &c. &c. &c. and are very desirous of obtaining your Marriage to be solemnized in the face of the Church: We are willing that...
LETTER XXX. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Well, but now my plots thicken; and my employment of writing to thee on this subject will soon come to a conclusion. For now, having got the Licence; and Mrs. Townsend with her Tars being to come to Hamstead next Wednesday or Thursday; and another Letter possibly or message from Miss Howe, to enquire how Miss Harlowe does, upon the Rustic's report of her ill health, and to express her wonder that she has not heard from her in answer to hers on her escape;---I must soon blow up the Lady, or be blown up myself. And so I am preparing, with Lady Betty and my Cousin Montague, to wait upon my Beloved with a coach-and-four, or a Set; for Lady Betty will not stir out with a pair, for...
LETTER XXXI. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; At Mrs. Sinclair's, Monday Afternoon. All's right, as heart can wish!---In spite of all objection---In spite of a reluctance next to fainting---In spite of all foresight, vigilance, suspicion--- [Page 280] once more is the Charmer of my soul in her old lodgings! Now throbs away every pulse! Now thump, thump, thumps my bounding heart for something! But I have not time for the particulars of our management. My Beloved is now directing some of her cloaths to be packed up---Never more to enter this house! Nor ever more will she, I dare say, when once again out of it! Yet not so much as a condition of forgiveness!---The Harlowe-spirited Fair-one will not deserve my...
LETTER XXXII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Tuesday Morn. June 13. And now, Belford, I can go no farther. The affair is over. Clarissa lives. And I am Your humble Servant, R. Lovelace. The whole of this black transaction is given by the injured Lady to Miss Howe, in her subsequent Letters, dated Thursday July 6. See Vol. VI. Letters xliv. xlv. xlvi.
LETTER XXXIII. Mr. Belford, To Robert Lovelace, Esq; Watford, Wedn. June 14. O thou savage-hearted monster! What work hast thou made in one guilty hour, for a whole age of repentance! [Page 292] I am inexpressibly concerned at the fate of this matchless Lady! She could not have fallen into the hands of any other man breathing, and suffered as she has done with thee. I had written a great part of another long Letter, to try to soften thy flinty heart in her favour; for I thought it but too likely, that thou shouldst succeed in getting her back again to the accursed woman's. But I find it would have been too late, had I finished it, and sent it away. Yet cannot I forbear writing, to urge thee to make the only amends thou now...
[Page 295] LETTER XXXIV. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Thursday, June 15. Let me alone, you great dog, you!---Let me alone!---have I heard a lesser boy, his coward arms held over his head and face, say to a bigger, who was pommeling him, for having run away with his apple, his orange, or his ginger-bread. So say I to thee, on occasion of thy severity to thy poor friend, who, as thou ownest, has furnished thee (ungenerous as thou art!) with the weapons thou brandishest so fearfully against him.---And to what purpose, when the mischief is done? when, of consequence, the affair is irretrievable? and when a Clarissa could not move me? Well, but, after all, I must own, that there is something very singular in...
LETTER XXXV. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; I have just now had a specimen of what the resentment of this dear creature will be when quite recovered: An affecting one!---For, entering her apartment after Dorcas; and endeavouring to sooth and pacify her disordered mind; in the midst of my blandishments, she held up to Heaven, in a speechless agony, the innocent Licence (which she has in her own power); as the poor distressed Catalans held up their English treaty, on an occasion that keeps the worst of my actions in countenance. She seemed about to call down vengeance upon me; when, happily, the Leaden God, in pity to her trembling Lovelace, waved over her half-drowned eyes his somniferous wand, and laid asleep the fair...
LETTER XXXVI. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Friday, June 16. I am sorry to hear of thy misfortune; but hope thou wilt not long lie by it. Thy servant tells me, what a narrow escape thou hadst with thy neck. I wish it may not be ominous: But I think thou seemest not to be in so enterprising a way as formerly; and yet, merry or sad, thou seest a Rake's neck is always in danger, if not from the hangman, from his own horse. But 'tis a vicious toad, it seems; and I think thou shouldst never venture upon his back again; for 'tis a plaguy thing for rider and horse both to be vicious. Thy fellow tells me, thou desirest me to continue to write to thee in order to divert thy chagrin on thy forced confinement: But how can I think it in...
LETTER XXXVII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Sunday Afternoon, 6 o'Clock (June 18.) I went out early this morning, and returned not till just now; when I was informed, that my Beloved, in my absence, had taken it into her head to attempt to get away. She tripped down, with a parcel tied up in a handkerchief, her hood on; and was actually in the entry, when Mrs. Sinclair saw her. Pray, Madam, whipping between her and the street-door, be pleased to let me know whither you are going? Who has a right to controul me? was the word. I have, Madam, by order of your Spouse: And, kemboing her arms, as she owned, I desire you will be pleased to walk up again. She would have spoken; but could not: And...
LETTER XXXVIII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Sunday Night. Never blame me for giving way to have Art used with this admirable creature. All the princes of the air, or beneath it, joining with me, could never have subdued her while she had her senses. I will not anticipate---Only to tell thee, that I am too much awakened by her to think of sleep, were I to go to bed; and so shall have nothing to do, but to write an account of our odd conversation, while it is [Page 321] so strong upon my mind that I can think of nothing else. She was dressed in a white damask night-gown, with less negligence than for some days past. I was sitting with my pen in my fingers; and stood up when I first saw her, with great...
LETTER XXXIX. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Monday Morn. 5 o'clock (June 19.) I must write on. Nothing else can divert me: And I think thou canst not have been a dog to me. [Page 330] I would fain have closed my eyes: But Sleep flies me. Well says Horace, as translated by Cowley; The halcyon Sleep will never build his nest In any stormy breast. 'Tis not enough, that he does find Clouds and Darkness in the mind: Darkness but half his work will do. 'Tis not enough: He must find Quiet too. Now indeed do I from my heart wish, that I had never known...
[Page 336] LETTER XL. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; I have this moment intelligence from Simon Parsons, one of Lord M's stewards, that his Lordship is very ill. Simon, who is my obsequious servant, in virtue of my presumptive heirship, gives me a hint in his Letter, that my presence at M. Hall will not be amiss. So, I must accelerate, whatever be the course I shall be allowed or compelled to take. No bad prospects for this charming creature, if the old Peer would be so kind as to surrender; and many a summons has his gout given him. A good 8000l. a year, and perhaps the Title Reversionary, or a still higher, would help me up with her. Proudly as this Lady pretends to be above all pride, grandeur will have...
LETTER XLI. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; Monday afternoon. Pity me, Jack, for pity's sake; since, if thou dost not, nobody else will: And yet never was there a man of my genius and lively temper that wanted it more. We are apt to attribute to the Devil every-thing that happens to us, which we would not have happen: But here, being (as perhaps thou'lt say) the Devil myself, my plagues arise from an Angel. I suppose all mankind is to be plagued by its Contrary. [Page 338] She began with me like a true woman [She in the fault, I to be blamed] the moment I entered the dining-room:---Not the least apology, not the least excuse, for the uproar she had made, and the trouble she had given me. I come, said she,...
LETTER XLII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; There is certainly a good deal in the observation, That it costs a man ten times more pains to be wicked, than it would cost him to be good. What a confounded number of contrivances have I had recourse to, in order to carry my point with this charming creature; and, after all, how have I puzzled myself by it; and yet am near tumbling into the pit which it was the end of all my plots to shun! What a happy man had I been with such an excellence, could I have brought my mind to marry when I first prevailed upon her to quit her Father's house! But then, as I have often reflected, how had I known, that a but-blossoming Beauty, who could carry on a private correspondence, and run such...
LETTER XLIII. Mr. Lovelace, To John Belford, Esq; But, with all this dear creature's resentment against me, I cannot, for my heart, think but she will get all over, and consent to enter the Pale with me. Were she even to die to-morrow, and to know she should, would not a woman of her sense, of her punctilio, and in her situation, and of so proud a family, rather die married, than otherwise?---No doubt but she would; altho' she were to hate the man ever so heartily. If so, there is now but one man in the world whom she can have---And that is Me. Now I talk [Familiar writing is but talking, Jack] thus glibly of entering the Pale, thou wilt be ready to question me, I know, as to my intentions on this head. As much...