The Life and Romances of Mrs. Eliza HaywoodWhicher, George Frisbie
General
The Life and Romances of Mrs. Eliza Haywood
Whicher, George Frisbie
Haywood, Eliza Fowler, 1693?-1756
Our hero is kindly received by his uncle in Persia, who soon dies and
leaves him sole heir of an enormous fortune. He is now Placentia's equal
in wealth as well as rank, and immediately embarks for England. Driven
into Baravat by contrary winds, he is moved to ransom a female captive
on hearing of her grief at her hard fate, but what is his surprise when
the fair slave proves to be Placentia. "Kisses, embraces, and all the
fond endearments of rewarded passion made up for their want of speech--
in their expressive looks, and eager graspings, the violence of their
mutual flame was more plainly demonstrated, than it could have been by
the greatest elegance of language--those of the Persians that stood by,
who understood not English, easily perceived, not only that they were
lovers, but also that they were so to the most unbounded height of
tender passion."
Placentia relates how she had eluded her brother and set sail to rejoin
her lover, how she had been saved from the arms of the brutal ship's
captain by a timely attack of pirates, and how, sold to a Moslem
merchant and still annoyed by the attentions of the captain, she had
abandoned all thoughts of life till redeemed by Philidore's generosity.
With Placentia, her maid, and young Tradewell, the maid's lover,
ransomed, Philidore sails blissfully to England. But upon landing
Placentia becomes suddenly cold to him. He forces his way into her
house, and finds that her brother is the young stranger whose life he
had saved in Persia. Meanwhile Placentia, whose fortune is now no match
for Philidore's, flees to parts unknown, leaving a letter conjuring him
to forget her. After a long search the brother and lover find her place
of concealment, and the former removes her scruples by settling a large
estate upon her. "Nothing could be more splendid than the celebration of
their nuptials; and of their future bliss, the reader may better judge
by their almost unexampled love, their constancy, their generosity and
nobleness of soul, than by any description I am able to give of it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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