Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His SisterBehn, Aphra
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Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister
Behn, Aphra
Epistolary fiction, English
That morning you left the _Brill_, and _Sylvia_ in bed, I must disturb
your more serene thoughts with telling you, that her first surprise
and griefs at the news of your departure were most deplorable, where
raging madness and the softer passion of love, complaints of grief,
and anger, sighs, tears and cries were so mixed together, and by turns
so violently seized her, that all about her wept and pitied her: it
was sad, it was wondrous sad, my lord, to see it: nor could we hope
her life, or that she would preserve it if she could; for by many ways
she attempted to have released herself from pain by a violent death,
and those that strove to preserve that, could not hope she would ever
have returned to sense again: sometimes a wild extravagant raving
would require all our aid, and then again she would talk and rail so
tenderly----and express her resentment in the kindest softest words
that ever madness uttered, and all of her _Philander_, till she has
set us all a weeping round her; sometimes she’d sit as calm and still
as death, and we have perceived she lived only by sighs and silent
tears that fell into her bosom; then on a sudden wildly gaze upon us
with eyes that even then had wondrous charms, and frantically survey
us all, then cry aloud, ‘Where is my Lord _Philander_!----Oh, bring me
my _Philander_, _Brilliard_: Oh, _Antonet_, where have you hid the
treasure of my soul?’ Then, weeping floods of tears, would sink all
fainting in our arms. Anon with trembling words and sighs she’d
cry----’But oh, my dear _Philander_ is no more, you have surrendered
him to _France_----Yes, yes, you have given him up, and he must die,
publicly die, be led a sad victim through the joyful crowd--reproached,
and fall ingloriously----’ Then rave again, and tear her lovely hair,
and act such wildness,--so moving and so sad, as even infected the
pitying beholders, and all we could do, was gently to persuade her
grief, and soothe her raving fits; but so we swore, so heartily we
vowed that you were safe, that with the aid of _Octavio_, who came
that day to visit her, we made her capable of hearing a little reason
from us. _Octavio_ kneeled, and begged she would but calmly hear him
speak, he pawned his soul, his honour, and his life, _Philander_ was
as safe from any injury, either from _France_, or any other enemy, as
he, as she, or heaven itself. In fine, my lord, he vowed, he swore,
and pleaded, till she with patience heard him tell his story, and the
necessity of your absence; this brought her temper back, and dried
her eyes, then sighing, answered him----that if for your safety you
were fled, she would forgive your cruelty and your absence, and
endeavour to be herself again: but then she would a thousand times
conjure him not to deceive her faith, by all the friendship that he
bore _Philander_, not to possess her with false hopes; then would he
swear anew; and as he swore, she would behold him with such charming
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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