Meanwhile he cultivated my acquaintance with great
assiduity and respect, attended me in all my excursions, and
particularly in an expedition to Antwerp, with two other gentlemen,
where, in downright gaiete de coeur, we sat for our pictures, which
were drawn in one piece, one of the party being represented in the
dress of a hussar, and another in that of a running footman. This
incident I mention, because the performance, which is now in my
possession, gave birth to a thousand groundless reports circulated
in England at our expense.
"It was immediately after this jaunt that Lord R-- began to disclose
his passion; though he, at the same time, started such objections as
seemed to extinguish his hopes, lamenting that, even if he should
have the happiness to engage my affections, his fortune was
too inconsiderable to support us against the efforts of Lord --,
should he attempt to interrupt our felicity, and that he himself
was obliged to follow the motions of the army. In short, he seemed
to consider my felicity more than his own, and behaved with such
delicacy, as gradually made an impression on my heart.
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