Mr. Glanville continuing in a sort of sullen silence, Arabella, raising her voice, went on:
Though I do not conceive myself obliged to give you an account of my conduct, seeing that I have only permitted you yet to hope for my favour; yet I owe to myself and my own honour the justification I am going to make. Know then, that however suspicious my compassion for Mr. Selvin may appear to your mistaken judgment, yet it has its foundation only in the generosity of my disposition, which inclines me to pardon the fault when the unhappy criminal repents; and to afford him my pity when his circumstances require it. Let not therefore the charity I have discovered towards your rival, be the cause of your despair, since my sentiments for him, were he living, would be what they were before; that is, full of indifference, nay, haply, disdain. And suffer not yourself to be so carried away by a violent and unjust jealousy, as to threaten your own death, which, if you really had any ground for your suspicions, and truly loved me, would come unsought for, though not undesired—For indeed, was your despair reasonable, death would necessarily follow it; for what lover can live under so desperate a misfortune? In that case you may meet death undauntedly when it comes, nay, embrace it with joy; but truly the killing one's self is but a false picture of true courage, proceeding rather from fear of a further evil, than contempt of that you fly to: for if it were a contempt of pain, the same principle would make you resolve to bear patiently and fearlessly all kind of pains; and hope being of all other the most contrary thing to fear, this being an utter banishment of hope, seems to have its ground in fear.
[Chapter IV.]
In which Mr. Glanville makes an unsuccessful attempt upon Arabella.
Arabella, when she had finished these words, which banished in part Mr. Glanville's confusion, went to her own apartment, followed by Miss Glanville, to whom she had made a sign for that purpose; and throwing herself into a chair, burst into tears, which greatly surprising Miss Glanville, she pressed her to tell her the cause.
Alas! replied Arabella, have I not cause to think myself extremely unhappy? The deplorable death of Mr. Selvin, the despair to which I see your brother reduced, with the fatal consequences which may attend it, fill me with a mortal uneasiness.
Well, said Miss Glanville, your ladyship may make yourself quite easy as to both these matters; for Mr. Selvin is not dead, nor is my brother in despair that I know of.
What do you say, miss? interrupted Arabella: is not Mr. Selvin dead? Was the wound he gave himself not mortal then?