ell the temper I was in, and would one day after evening service
needs take me to the Park. When we were there, my lord passes by; I
flushed into a flame. "Mrs. Distaff," said she, "you may very well
remember the concern I was in upon the first notice I took of your
regard to that lord, and forgive me, who had a tender friendship for
your mother (now in her grave) that I am vigilant of your conduct." She
went on with much severity, and after great solicitation, prevailed on
me to go with her into the country, and there spend the ensuing summer
out of the way of a man she saw I loved, and one whom she perceived
meditated my ruin, by frequently desiring her to introduce him to me;
which she absolutely refused, except he would give his honour that he
had no other design but to marry me. To her country house a week or two
after we went: there was at the farther end of her garden a kind of
wilderness, in the middle of which ran a soft rivulet by an arbour of
jessamine. In this place I usually passed my retired hours, and read
some romantic or poetical tale till the close of the evening. It was
near that time in the heat of summer, when gentle winds, soft murmurs
of water, and notes of nightingales had given my mind an indolence,
which added to that repose of soul, which twilight and the end of a warm
day naturally throws upon the spirits. It was at such an hour, and in
such a state of tranquillity I sat, when, to my unexpressible amazement,
I saw my lord walking towards me, whom I knew not till that moment to
have been in the country. I could observe in his approach the perplexity
which attends a man big with design; and I had, while he was coming
forward, time to reflect that I was betrayed; the sense of which gave me
a resentment suitable to such a baseness: but when he entered into the
bower where I was, my heart flew towards him, and, I confess, a certain
joy came into my mind, with a hope that he might then make a declaration
of honour and passion. This threw my eye upon him with such tenderness,
as gave him power, with a broken accent, to begin. "Madam,--You will
wonder--For it is certain, you must have observed--though I fear you
will misinterpret the motives--But by Heaven, and all that's sacred! If
you could--" Here he made a full stand. And I recovered power to say,
"The consternation I am in you will not, I hope, believe--A helpless
innocent maid--Besides that, the place--" He saw me in as great
confusion as himself