Page:The Adventures of David Simple (1904).djvu/301

 what was his condition? With a heart bursting with gratitude towards his friend, filled with the softest and faithfullest passion for the woman he but an hour before flattered himself he was just upon the point of receiving from the hands of the man who made his happiness necessary to his own; with a mind which startled at the least thought of acting against the strictest rules of honour; he suddenly found that the passion his friend's wife was possessed of for him was too violent to be restrained, and too dangerous to be dallied with ; he could not perceive any method to extricate himself out of the dilemma he was thus unexpectedly, unfortunately, involved in. "The first thing he resolved on was, whatever happened to him, never to disclose the secret of Dorimene's love; but then to give me up, to abandon all his hopes, and at the same time in appearance be ungrateful to my love, and slight the marquis's proffered and generous kindness, was what he could not bear; and yet such were his anxious cares for my safety, that he had fixed it in his mind rather to suffer all the most dreadful torments which human nature is capable of feeling, than run the least venture of my life. Sometimes he flattered himself with the thoughts that time and reason would turn Dorimene from her horrid purpose, and enable her to conquer this unreasonable passion. "This secret, which I was then a stranger to, was the cause of poor Dumont's sudden alteration, and fixed that melancholy on him which I could not then account for. "Dorimene, now the Chevalier was not ignorant of her love, threw off all restraint; she contrived all the methods possible of sending the Marquis out of the way, and only sought the means of meeting Dumont alone. It was in vain for him to seek new walks and by-paths in the labyrinths of a wood