Page:The Mysterious Warning - Parsons (1796, volume 3).djvu/59

 will make an irreconcilable enemy of me. Your father will hear the reputation of his daughter for ever destroyed, and the hatred of my father will find gratification in the dishonour attached to a family he dislikes.—Consider deliberately on all the arguments I have adduced, for the preservation of your character and future independence."

Here the base deceiver stopped, after having completely unmasked his character, and developed his dark designs. The latter part of this long speech had driven all foolish tenderness from my heart. Conscious innocence, pride, and indignation, raised me to a spirit above all fond complainings.—I viewed the man before me with a contempt that superseded affection: For when once an ingenuous mind feels the object of its tenderness in a despicable point of view, as void of integrity or honour, it is not difficult to change the nature of its sentiments, since true love must be founded upon esteem; and when that is annihilated, the other ceases to exist in a well informed mind. The errors, the