"I would perish first."
"If that be the case, I confess I do not see the force of your objection."
"True; for as long as I refuse to marry her, their anger will be the same, whether I travel or remain in England. In fact, I shall be happier at a distance than here, where I shall be annoyed by having the subject constantly recurred to. Yet it pains me to speak upon it to my father. He has so long cherished the idea of my marriage, and dwelt upon it so fondly—"
"Then you had better stay,—relinquish all thoughts of scientific discoveries, and settle contentedly on an estate in the country; employing your time in regulating your farm, settling the disputes of your neighbours, and bringing up your children, if you should happen to have any."
"How can you torment me so?—If you could imagine the struggle in my bosom, between inclination and duty, you would pity me."
"Do you think your presence necessary to your father's happiness?"
"No—if Edmund be with him, he will never think of me."
"And do you not think—nay, are you not certain, that an union with Rosabella would make you miserable?"
"It is impossible to doubt it. Her violent temper, and the mystery which hangs over the fate of her father, which she cannot bear to have even alluded to, forbid the thought of happiness as connected with her."
"It is strange, so little should be known of her father. I never heard the particulars of his story."