" So saying,
she tripped away to her companion, and left her lover in a most
tumultuous suspense. He now perceived that her neglect of his
addresses when he was at Winchester, must have been owing to some
mystery which he could not comprehend; and she began to suspect
and to hope that the letter which she received was spurious, though
she could not conceive how that could possibly happen, as it had
been delivered to her by the hands of his own servant.
However, she resolved to leave the task of unravelling this affair
to him, who, she knew, would infallibly exert himself for his own
as well as her satisfaction. She was not deceived in her opinion:
he went up to her again at the staircase, and, as they were improvided
with a male attendant, insisted upon squiring the ladies to their
lodgings. Emilia saw his drift, which was no other than to know where
she lived; and though she approved of his contrivance, thought it
was incumbent upon her, for the support of her own dignity, to decline
the chivalry; she therefore thanked him for his polite offer, but
would by no means consent to his giving himself such unnecessary
trouble, especially as they had a very little way to walk.
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