Alfred; or, The Adventures of a French Gentleman — page 228: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

OF A FRENCH GENTLEMAN. 195 iriends—the conviction that he was now no longer a felon, nora criminal in the eyes of his country’s laws, and that the almost insuperable bar to his marriage with Eloise was probably over- come—these reflections caused his heart to leap within him, and he exclaimed aloud, ‘‘ This moment is an ample reward for all the hours of agony and suffering I have undergone. Pardoned by my king, once more on a level with the proudest of my fellow- countrymen, possessing a competency sufficient to ensure me bread for the future, and then Eloise—oh ! indeed—indeed, this instant of bliss is as a drop of wine after cups of vinegar and gall!” The following morning was fixed for his departure; and he determined to spend the last evening of his sojourn in the English metropolis with the kind friends to whom he was under a mul- tiplicity of obligations. Having first informed Mr. Robson of his intentions, he ascended to the drawing-room, where—as if destiny had arranged the meeting on purpose—he found himself alone with Selina. ‘¢ No circumstances can this time make me change my mind, Miss Robson: my presence at St. Malo is absolutely necessary in a few days,” said our hero, when he had gradually unfolded the chief object of his visit to the being whom the sad news afflicted as much as they gave him pleasure. ‘¢ May all happiness attend you, M. De Rosann!” cried Selina, wiping away a tear. ‘‘ May you reap the reward which your constancy deserves, and experience an uninterrupted felicity in the arms of your future bride.” : ‘¢ And may you forget, Miss Robson, the image of the individual who has been unfortunate enough to cause you pain: may you be united to one capable of appreciating your worth, and of ensuring you that domestic joy which your virtues and your'disposition so essentially merit.” ‘¢ No, Alfred—M. De Rosann—I shall not seek a change like that to which you allude. My heart can never become the property of another; and where I cannot place my affections, there must I not hope for solace or consolation. *“I'would be a crime to engage in the holy bonds of matrimony—’twould be practising a cheat upon a confiding husband, to return his love with indifference.” ‘¢ May you not hope, Selina, that a year—eighteen months—” ‘‘ Can change my sentiments?” cried Miss Robson, hastily in- terrupting our hero, as if he were uttering a blasphemy: ‘‘O no, no. Were you better acquainted with my character—my disposi- tion—you would not think so lightly of me as your remark proves you do; but you would pity the undying, the unquenchable flame that gnaws my suffering heart.” «¢ And yet you yourself said that time could haply work a change for the better,” observed De Rosann, alluding to the fatal day whem the memorable explanation took place between himself and the unhappy maiden, whose misplaced affection was a scorpion het bosom had nourished to sting the most vital part. ‘‘ If I thought so at the moment, I-was wrong: but I probably uttered the words you refer to with the idea of dispelling your fears Gomicbdooksrteo