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amour much longer. I was determined to bring the matter to a crisis; and one evening, I complained of her indifference, described the tortures of suspence, and pressed her to disclose her sentiments with such earnestness, that she could not with all her art shift the subject. She let me know with a careless air, that she had no objection to my person, and if I could satisfy her mother in other particulars, I should not find her averse to the match. This was not a very agreeable declaration to me, whose aim had been to win her inclination first, and then secure my conquest by a private marriage. I waited on the mother, and with great formality demanded the daughter in marriage: The good lady behaved with great civility, and said, she did not doubt that I was in all respects qualified to make a woman happy; but it concerned her as a parent, anxious about the welfare of her child, to inquire into the particulars of my fortune, and what settlement I proposed to make. I replied without hesitation, that though my fortune was very small, I was a gentleman by birth and education, would maintain her daughter in the sphere of a gentlewoman, and settle her own dowry on her and her heirs for ever. This careful matron did not seem to relish my proposal, but observed, that there was no necessity for settling that upon her child which was her own already; however, if I pleased, her lawyer
should
