“His pursuit intimates that I never have, but he has no other proof.”
“However light and frivolous you have been upon frivolous subjects, yet I must own, Miss Milner, that I did expect when a case of this importance came seriously before you, you would have discovered a proper stability in your behaviour.”
“I do, Sir; and it was only when I was affected with a weakness, which arose from accident, that I have betrayed inconsistency.”
“You then assert again, that you have no affection for my Lord Frederick?”
“Not enough to become his wife.”
“You are alarmed at marriage, and I do not wonder you should be so; it shews a prudent foresight which does you honour—but, my dear, are there no dangers in a single state? If I may judge, Miss Milner, there are many more to a young lady of your accomplishments, than if you were under the protection of a husband.”
“My father, Mr. Dorriforth, thought your protection sufficient.”
“But that protection was rather to direct your choice, than to be the cause of your not choosing at all. Give me leave to point out an observation which, perhaps, I have too frequently made before, but upon this occasion I must intrude it once again. Miss Fenton is its object—her fortune is inferior to your’s, her personal attractions are less”——
Here the powerful glow of joy, and of gratitude, for an opinion so negligently, and yet so sincerely expressed, flew to Miss Milner’s face, neck, and even to her hands and fingers; the blood mounted to every part of her skin that was visible, for not a fibre but felt the secret transport, that Dorriforth thought her more beautiful than the beautiful Miss Fenton.
If he observed her blushes, he was unsuspicious of the cause, and went on.