In his return with Emilia from the opera, though he still maintained
the most scrupulous decorum in his behaviour, he plied her with the
most passionate expressions of love, squeezed her hand with great
fervency, protested that his whole soul was engrossed by her idea,
and that he could not exist independent of her favour. Pleased as
she was with his warm and pathetic addresses, together with the
respectful manner of his making love, she yet had prudence and
resolution sufficient to contain her tenderness, which was ready
to run over; being fortified against his arts, by reflecting, that,
if his aim was honourable, it was now his business to declare it.
On this consideration, she refused to make any serious reply to
his earnest expostulations, but affected to receive them as the
undetermined effusions of gallantry and good breeding.
This fictitious gaiety and good-humour, though it baffled his hope
of extorting from her an acknowledgment of which he might have
taken immediate advantage, nevertheless encouraged him to observe,
as the chariot passed along the Strand, that the night was far
advanced; that supper would certainly be over before they could
reach her uncle's house; and to propose that he should wait upon
her to some place, where they might be accommodated with a slight
refreshment.
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