I was, however, unwarily drawn in to give
my word, and he then made me the confident of a passion, which, he said,
had received its birth from the first moment he beheld the Belle
Angloise, for by that term, pursued he, bowing, he distinguished the
adorable Louisa: that he had made some discovery of his flame, but that
finding; himself rejected, as he thought, in too severe a manner, and
without affording him opportunity to attest his sincerity, he had
converted his addresses, tho' not his passion, to a lady who, he
perceived, had the care of her, acting in this manner, partly thro'
picque at your disdain, and partly to gratify his eyes with the sight of
you, which he has reason to fear you had totally deprived him of but for
this stratagem. He confessed to me that he found the object of his
pretended ardours infinitely more kind than she who inspires the real
ones: but this gratification of his vanity is of little consequence to
his peace;--he engaged me to attend you this day, to conjure you to
believe his heart is incapable of being influenced by any other charms,
and whatever he makes shew of to Melanthe, his heart is devoted wholly
to you,--begs you to permit him to entertain you without the presence of
that lady, the means of which he will take care to contrive; and charged
me to assure you, that there is no sacrifice so great, but he will
readily offer it to convince you of the sincerity of his attachment.
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