My love is too delicate and refined to wear those vulgar fetters,
which serve only to destroy the merit of voluntary affection, and
to upbraid a man incessantly with the articles of compulsion, under
which he lies. My dear angel! spare me the mortification of being
compelled to love you, and reign sole empress of my heart and
fortune. I will not affront you so much as to talk of settlements;
my all is at your disposal. In this pocket-book are notes to
the amount of two thousand pounds; do me the pleasure to accept
of them; to-morrow I will lay ten thousand more in your lap. In a
word, you shall be mistress of my whole estate, and I shall
think myself happy in living dependent on your bounty! "
Heavens! what were the emotions of the virtuous, the sensible, the
delicate, the tender Emilia's heart, when she heard this insolent
declaration from the mouth of a man whom she had honoured with her
affection and esteem! It was not simply horror, grief, or indignation,
that she felt, in consequence of this unworthy treatment, but the
united pangs of all together, which produced a sort of hysteric
laughter, while she told him that she could not help admiring his
generosity.
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