“What! I should allow my father to marry such a creature? I should sit
still and smile when such dishonor and such ruin are coming to a house
over which my mother has presided! No; far be it from me ever to be so
selfish! I shall oppose Miss Brandon’s plans with all my strength and
all my energy.”
“She may triumph, after all.”
“She shall not triumph over my resistance and my contempt. Never--do you
hear me, Daniel?--never will I bow down before her. Never shall my hand
touch hers. And, if my father persists, I shall ask him, the day before
his wedding, to allow me to bury myself in a convent.”
“He will not let you go.”
“Then I shall shut myself up in my room, and never leave it again. I do
not think they will drag me out by force.”
There was no mistaking it; she spoke with an earnestness and a
determination which nothing could shake or break. And yet the very
saddest presentiments oppressed Daniel’s heart. He said,--
“But Miss Brandon will certainly not come alone to this house.”
“Whom will she bring with her?”
“Her relatives, M. Thomas Elgin and Mrs. Brian. Oh Henrietta, dearest
Henrietta! to think that you should be exposed to the spite and the
persecution of these wretches!”