"
"You forget," observed the Doctor, "that when he was the admirer of our
beloved Isabel, he shewed by his warmth and assiduity, that he was
capable of loving something beside himself."
"And never," said Mrs. Mellicent, "brother, had I so much cause to think
meanly of my own judgment, and own the superiority of dear Isabel's
penetration, as when she rejected my advice, and refused that
vacillating time-server; shewing that she needed not the light of
prosperity to discover the deserving."
Her eye glanced on Evellin, who, overpowered by these allusions to his
beloved wife, left the room without listening to the compliment paid to
himself. His impetuous son stormed with fury, that such a man should
even pretend to have felt the power of his mother's charms. "Had he been
my father," said he, "I would have fled my country, and disowned my
name. But why did you not, dear uncle, convince him it is not loyalty
but self-preservation which makes him arm his tenants."
"And why do you not convert that cricket-ball, which you are pressing
with so much vehemence, into a pure and solid gem? I never attempt
impossibilities.
Pages:
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184