The History of Miss Betsy ThoughtlessHaywood, Eliza Fowler
General
The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless
Haywood, Eliza Fowler
Abused wives -- Fiction; Bildungsromans; Didactic fiction; England -- Fiction; Married women -- Fiction
Though I flatter myself all my letters afford you some sort of
satisfaction, yet by what little judgment I have been able to form
of the temper of your sex, have reason to believe, this I now send
will meet a double portion of welcome from you. It brings a
confirmation of your beauty's power; the intelligence of a new
conquest; the offer of a heart, which, if you will trust a
brother's recommendation, is well deserving your acceptance: but,
that I may not seem to speak in riddles, you may remember that the
first time I had the pleasure of entertaining you at my rooms, a
gentleman called Trueworth was with us, and that the next day when
you dined with that person, who afterwards treated you with such
unbecoming liberties, he made one of the company; since then you
could not see him, as he was obliged to go to his seat, which is
about thirty miles off, on an extraordinary occasion, and returned
not till the day after you left this town. He seemed more than
ordinarily affected on my telling him what had happened on your
account; and, after pausing a little, "How unhappy was I," said he,
"to be absent! had I been here there would have been no need for
the brother of Miss Betsy to have exposed his life to the sword of
an injurious antagonist, or his character to the censure of the
university. I would have taken upon myself to have revenged the
quarrel of that amiable lady, and either have severely chastised
the insolence of the aggressor, or lost the best part of my blood
in the attempt!" I was very much surprized at these words, as well
as the emphasis with which they were delivered; but, recovering
myself as soon as I could, "We are extremely obliged to you, Sir,"
said I; "but I know not if such a mistaken generosity might not
have been fatal to the reputation of us both. What would the world
have said of me to have been tamely passive, and suffer another to
revenge the affront offered to my sister? What would they have
thought of her, on finding her honour vindicated by one who had no
concern in it?"--"No concern!" cried he, with the utmost eagerness;
"yes, I have a concern, more deep, more strong, than that of
father, brother, or all the ties of blood could give; and that you
had before now have been convinced of it, had I not been so
suddenly and so unfortunately called hence."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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