Romance and Infatuation
That night, her imagination formed a thousand expectations. The knight-errantry of the rescue filled her thoughts with romantic notions drawn from her reading. She envisioned herself as a princess delivered by a generous Oroondates, bound in gratitude to yield her affections. She tried to chasten these thoughts but could not. Dreams showed her hero sighing at her feet as a despairing lover.
Declaration of Love
After his first visit, her father expressed a desire for further acquaintance, to which the stranger replied with a compliment to her father and a look to her full of eloquence and tenderness. He soon repeated his visit and artfully insinuated himself into her esteem by seeming to contradict her through misapprehension, giving her opportunity to clarify her views and enhance her reputation. Having secured her good opinion, he began showing tokens of a particular passion, praising her mind while admiring her person. When fully persuaded of his conquest, he disclosed his love so ardently and sincerely that she could not disguise her heart’s sentiments, and he received her approbation with transport.
Seduction and Betrayal
They arranged private meetings and enjoyed elevated conversation. He proclaimed honorable intentions and lamented his father’s avarice, which had destined him for another match. He vowed eternal fidelity with such candor that she became his dupe. She curses the day she gave away her innocence and peace, her beauty, her education, and her good sense that made her heart susceptible.
Abandonment and Despair
After some months, his visits became less frequent and his behavior colder. When she demanded he perform his promise to marry her, he seemed to acquiesce and left on pretence of finding a clergyman, but never intended to return. After waiting a week, a gentleman informed her that Lothario was setting out for London with his bride to buy clothes for their nuptials. She was distracted with rage, then subsided to silent sorrow, then hoped again, but ultimately learned of his marriage. Her horror was inconceivable, and but for her desire of revenge, she would have ended her life.
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