Lord G. For Heaven's sake, madam, in what capacity?
Miss Alton. In one, my lord, not very much above the class of a servant.
Lord G. Impossible, sure! It is to place the brilliant below the foil—to make the inimitable work of nature secondary to art and defect.
Miss Alton. It is to take refuge in a situation that offers me security against suspicious obligation; against vile design; against the attempts of a seducer—It is to exercise the patience, that the will, and perhaps the favour, of Heaven meant to try.
Lord G. Cruel, cruel to yourself and me—Could I have had a happiness like that of assisting you against the injustice of fortune—and when to be thus degraded was the alternative?—
Miss Alton. My lord, it is fit I should be explicit. Reflect upon the language you have held to me; view the character in which you present yourself to this family; and then pronounce in whose breast we must look for a sense of degradation.
Lord G. In mine, and mine alone. I confess it—Hear nevertheless my defence—My actions are all the result of love. And culpable as I may seem, my conscience does not reproach me with——
Miss Alton. Oh, my lord, I readily believe you—You are above its reproaches—qualities, that are infamous and fatal, in one class of life, create applause and conscientious satisfaction in another.
Lord G. Infamous and fatal qualities! What means my lovely accuser?