|
||||||||
me a crown never to mention it, and made me swear upon a book, but I believe, indeed, it was not the Bible. Till something of a more beautiful red than vermilion be found out, I shall say nothing of Sophias colour on this occasion. Honour, says she, Iif you will not mention this any more to menor to anybody else, I will not betray youI mean, I will not be angry; but I am afraid of your tongue. Why, my girl, will you give it such liberties?Nay, maam, answered she, to be sure, I would sooner cut out my tongue than offend your ladyship. To be sure I shall never mention a word that your ladyship would not have me.Why, I would not have you mention this any more, said Sophia, for it may come to my fathers ears, and he would be angry with Mr. Jones; though I really believe, as you say, he meant nothing. I should be very angry myself, if I imagined Nay, maam, says Honour, I protest I believe he meant nothing. I thought he talked as if he was out of his senses; nay, he said he believed he was beside himself when he had spoken the words. Ay, sir, says I, I believe so too. Yes, says he, Honour.But I ask your ladyships pardon; I could tear my tongue out for offending you. Go on, says Sophia; you may mention anything you have not told me before.Yes, Honour, says he (this was some time afterwards, when he gave me the crown), I am neither such a coxcomb, or such a villain, as to think of her in any other delight but as my goddess; as such I will always worship and adore her while I have breath.This was all, maam, I will be sworn, to the best of my remembrance. I was in a passion with him myself, till I found he meant no harm.Indeed, Honour, says Sophia, I believe you have a real affection for me. I was provoked the other day when I gave you warning; but if you have a desire to stay with me, you shall.To be sure, maam, answered Mrs. Honour, I shall never desire to part with your ladyship. To be sure, I almost cried my eyes out when you gave me warning. It would be very ungrateful in me to desire to leave your ladyship; because as why, I should never get so good a place again. I am sure I would live and die with your ladyship; for, as poor Mr. Jones said, happy is the man Here the dinner bell interrupted a conversation which had wrought such an effect on Sophia, that she was, perhaps, more obliged to her bleeding in the morning, than she, at the time, had apprehended she should be. As to the present situation of her mind, I shall adhere to a rule of Horace, by not attempting to describe it, from despair of success. Most of my readers will suggest it easily to themselves; and the few who cannot, would not understand the picture, or at least would deny it to be natural, if ever so well drawn. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Copyright: All texts on Bibliomania are © Bibliomania.com Ltd, and may not be reproduced in any form without our written permission. See our FAQ for more details. | ||||||||