Page:The Mysterious Warning - Parsons (1796, volume 3).djvu/31

 me, by all the arguments he adduced against a private marriage. I replied to him with a courage that I saw surprised and hurt him; "that I was very sensible of his regard for my interest and happiness; but that, as the Count had honoured me with an offer of his hand, situated as I was, and with the esteem I felt for him, I could neither be so ungrateful to him, nor so much an enemy to my own happiness, as to decline the offer, which it was impossible my father could disapprove, when declared publicly; and when that time arrived, all apprehensions of the old Count's disapprobation must be done away." My lover threw himself in raptures at my feet, to thank me, and in the same breath, claimed the Abbe's promise. He heaved a deep sigh. "I own," said he, "that I am disappointed, and thought I might trust to the gentle and delicate mind of Louisa for a more proper regard to circumstances: But since my own confidence in her has misled me, and I see that you have acquired an unbounded influence over her heart, I shall no longer op-