Well, but see Mr. Solmes once more, Niece. It will oblige and make for
you more than you imagine.
What should I see him for, Madam?--Is the man fond of hearing me declare
my aversion to him?--Is he desirous of having me more and more incense
my friends against myself?--O my cunning, my ambitious brother!
Ah, my dear! with a look of pity, as if she understood the meaning of my
exclamation--But must that necessarily be the case?
It must, Madam, if they will take offence at me for declaring my
steadfast detestation of Mr. Solmes, as a husband.
Mr. Solmes is to be pitied, said she. He adores you. He longs to see
you once more. He loves you the better for your cruel usage of him
yesterday. He is in raptures about you.
Ugly creature, thought I!--He in raptures!
What a cruel wretch must he be, said I, who can enjoy the distress to
which he so largely contributes!--But I see, I see, Madam, that I am
considered as an animal to be baited, to make sport for my brother
and sister, and Mr. Solmes. They are all, all of them, wanton in their
cruelty.--I, Madam, see the man! the man so incapable of pity!--Indeed I
will not see him, if I can help it--indeed I will not.
What a construction does your lively wit put upon the admiration
Mr. Solmes expresses of you!--Passionate as you were yesterday, and
contemptuously as you treated him, he dotes upon you for the very
severity by which he suffers. He is not so ungenerous a man as you think
him: nor has he an unfeeling heart.--Let me prevail upon you, my dear,
(as your father and mother expect it of you,) to see him once more, and
hear what he has to say to you.
How can I consent to see him again, when yesterday's interview
was interpreted by you, Madam, as well as by every other, as an
encouragement to him? when I myself declared, that if I saw him a second
time by my own consent, it might be so taken? and when I am determined
never to encourage him?
You might spare your reflections upon me, Miss. I have no thanks either
from one side or the other.
And away she flung.