And here he proposed articles to you, I understand? Yes, madam, replied
I; but I abhorred so much the thoughts of being a kept creature, that
I rejected them with great boldness; and was resolved to die before I
would consent to them. He afterwards attempted you, I think: Did he not? O yes, madam, said I,
a most sad attempt he made! and I had like to have been lost; for
Mrs. Jewkes was not so good as she should have been. And so I told
her ladyship that sad affair, and how I fell into fits; and that they
believing me dying, forbore.--Any attempts after this base one? she
said. He was not so good as he should have been, returned I, once in the
garden, afterwards; but I was so watchful, and so ready to take the
alarm! But, said she, did he not threaten you, at times, and put on his stern
airs, every now and then?--Threaten, madam, replied I; yes, I had enough
of that! I thought I should have died for fear several times.--How could
you bear that? said she: for he is a most daring and majestic mortal! He
has none of your puny hearts, but is as courageous as a lion; and, boy
and man, never feared any thing. I myself, said she, have a pretty good
spirit; but, when I have made him truly angry, I have always been forced
to make it up with him, as well as I could: for, child, he is not one
that is easily reconciled, I assure you.
But, after he had professed honourable love to you, did he never attempt
you again?--No, indeed, madam, he did not. But he was a good while
struggling with himself, and with his pride, as he was pleased to call
it, before he could stoop so low; and considered, and considered again:
and once, upon my saying but two or three words, that displeased him,
when he was very kind to me, he turned me out of doors, in a manner,
at an hour's warning; for he sent me above a day's journey towards my
father's; and then sent a man and horse, post-haste, to fetch me back
again; and has been exceedingly kind and gracious to me ever since, and
made me happy. That sending you away, said she, one hour, and sending after you the
next, is exactly like my brother; and 'tis well if he don't turn you off
twice or thrice before a year comes about, if you vex him: and he would
have done the same by the first lady in the land, if he had been
married to her. Yet has he his virtues, as well as his faults; for he is
generous; nay, he is noble in his spirit; hates little dirty actions: he
delights in doing good; but does not pass over a wilful fault easily. He
is wise, prudent, sober, and magnanimous, and will not tell a lie,
nor disguise his faults; but you must not expect to have him all to
yourself, I doubt.