Certainly, madam, replied Glanville, turning over the leaves in great confusion, one may, as you say, be greatly improved; for these books contain a great deal: and, looking over a page of Cassandra, without any design, read these words, which were part of Oroondates' soliloquy when he received a cruel sentence from Statira:—
"Ah cruel! (says this miserable lover) and what have I done to merit it? Examine the nature of my offence, and you will see I am not so guilty, but that my death may free me from part of that severity: shall your hatred last longer than my life? And can you detest a soul that forsakes its body only to obey you? No, no, you are not so hard-hearted; that satisfaction will, doubtless, content you: and, when I shall cease to be, doubtless I shall cease to be odious to you."
Upon my soul, said Glanville, stifling a laugh with great difficulty, I cannot help blaming the lady this sorrowful lover complains of, for her great cruelty; for here he gives one reason to suspect, that she will not even be contented with his dying in obedience to her commands, but will hate him after death; an impiety quite inexcusable in a Christian!
You condemn this illustrious princess with very little reason, interrupted Arabella, smiling at his mistake; for, besides that she was not a Christian, and ignorant of those divine maxims of charity and forgiveness, which Christians, by their profession, are obliged to practise, she was very far from desiring the death of Oroondates; for, if you will take the pains to read the succeeding passages, you will find that she expresses herself in the most obliging manner in the world; for when Oroondates tells her he would live, if she would consent he should, the princess most sweetly replies, "I not only consent, but also entreat it; and, if I have any power, command it." However, lest you should fall into the other extreme, and blame this great princess for her easiness (as you before condemned her for her cruelty), it is necessary you should know how she was induced to this favourable behaviour to her lover: therefore pray read the whole transaction. Stay! here it begins, continued she; turning over a good many pages, and marking where he should begin to read.
Glanville, having no great stomach to the task, endeavoured to evade it, by entreating his cousin to relate the passages she desired he should be acquainted with: but she declining it, he was obliged to obey, and began to read where she directed him: and, to leave him at liberty to read with the greater attention, she left him, and went to a window at another end of the chamber.
Mr. Glanville, who was not willing to displease her, examined the task she had set him, resolving, if it was not a very hard one, to comply; but, counting the pages, he was quite terrified at the number, and could not prevail upon himself to read them: therefore, glancing them over, he pretended to be deeply engaged in reading, when, in reality, he was contemplating the surprising effect these books had produced in the mind of his cousin; who, had she been untainted with the ridiculous whims they created in her imagination, was, in his opinion, one of the most accomplished ladies in the world.
When he had sat long enough to make her believe he had read what she had desired, he rose up, and joining her at the window, began to talk of the pleasantness of the evening, instead of the rigour of Statira.
Arabella coloured with vexation at his extreme indifference in a matter which was of such prodigious consequence, in her opinion; but disdaining to put him in mind of his rudeness, in quitting a subject they had not thoroughly discussed, and which she had taken so much pains to make him comprehend, she continued silent; and would not condescend to afford him an answer to any thing he said.
Glanville, by her silence and frowns, was made sensible of his fault; and, to repair it, began to talk of the inexorable Statira, though, indeed, he did not well know what to say.
Arabella, clearing up a little, did not disdain to answer him upon her favourite topic: I knew, said she, you would be ready to blame this princess equally for her rigour and her kindness; but it must be remembered, that what she did in favour of Oroondates was wholly owing to the generosity of Artaxerxes.