Griffith Gaunt; or, Jealousy: Volumes 1 to 3 (of 3)Reade, Charles
General
Griffith Gaunt; or, Jealousy: Volumes 1 to 3 (of 3)
Reade, Charles
Bigamy -- Fiction; English fiction -- 19th century
But the moment she smiled, the inflammable George made hot love to
her again. Then she besought him to leave her, piteously. Then he
said cheerfully he would leave her as soon as ever she had promised
to be his. At that she turned sullen and haughty, and looked through
the window and took no notice of him whatever. Then, instead of being
discouraged or mortified, he showed imperturbable confidence and good
humour, and begged archly to know what interesting object was in sight
from that window. On this she blushed and withdrew her eyes from the
window, and so they met his. On that he threw himself on his knees
(custom of the day), and wooed her with such a burst of passionate and
tearful eloquence that she began to pity him, and said she, lifting her
lovely eyes, "Alas! I was born to make all those I esteem, unhappy;"
and she sighed deeply.
"Not a bit of it," said he; "you were born, like the sun, to bless all
you shine upon. Sweet Mistress Kate, I love you as these country boors
can never be taught to love. I lay my heart, my name, my substance, at
your feet; you shall not be loved--you shall be worshipped. Ah! turn
those eyes, brimful of soul, on me again, and let me try and read in
them that one day, no matter how distant, the delight of my eyes, the
joy of all my senses, the pride of Cumberland, the pearl of England,
the flower of womankind, the rival of the angels, the darling of George
Neville's heart, will be George Neville's wife."
Fire and water were in his eyes, passion in every tone; his manly hand
grasped hers and trembled, and drew her gently towards him.
Her bosom heaved; his passionate male voice and manner electrified
her, and made her flutter. "Spare me this pain," she faltered; and she
looked through the window and thought, "Poor Griffith was right after
all, and I was wrong. He had cause for jealousy, and CAUSE FOR FEAR."
And then she pitied him who panted at her side, and then was sorry
for him who rode away disconsolate, still lessening to her eye; and
what with this conflict, and the emotion her quarrel with Griffith had
already caused her, she leaned her head back against the shutter, and
began to sob low, but almost hysterically.
Now, Mr. George Neville was neither a fool nor a novice. If he had
never been downright in love before (which I crave permission to
doubt), he had gone far enough on that road to make one Italian lady,
two French, one Austrian, and one Creole in love with him; and each of
these love affairs had given him fresh insight into the ways of women.
Enlightened by so many bitter-sweet experiences, he saw at once that
there was something more going on inside Kate's heaving bosom than he
could have caused by offering her his hand. He rose from his knees, and
leaned against the opposite shutter, and fixed his eyes a little sadly,
but very observantly, on her, as she leaned back against the shutter,
sobbing low, but hysterically, and quivering all over.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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