He sighed, he turned away. She called him back; he trembled, and kept silence.
She seemed to enjoy his confusion; she was cruel enough to repeat the question.
“Tell me, Edmund, and truly, do you wish to see me give my hand to Wenlock? I insist upon your answer.”
All on a sudden he recovered both his voice and courage; he stepped forward, his person erect, his countenance assured, his voice resolute and intrepid.
“Since Lady Emma insists upon my answer, since she avows a dislike to Wenlock, since she condescends to ask my opinion, I will tell her my thoughts, my wishes.”
The fair Emma now trembled in her turn; she blushed, looked down, and was ashamed to have spoken so freely.
Edmund went on. “My most ardent wishes are, that the fair Emma may reserve her heart and hand till a certain person, a friend of mine, is at liberty to solicit them; whose utmost ambition is, first to deserve, and then to obtain them.”
“Your friend, Sir!” said Lady Emma! her brow clouded, her eye disdainful.
Edmund proceeded. “My friend is so particularly circumstanced that he cannot at present with propriety ask for Lady Emma’s favour; but as soon as he has gained a cause that is yet in suspence, he will openly declare his pretensions, and if he is unsuccessful, he will then condemn himself to eternal silence.”
Lady Emma knew not what to think of this declaration; she hoped, she feared, she meditated; but her attention was too strongly excited to be satisfied without some gratification; After a pause, she pursued the subject.
“And this friend of yours, sir, of what degree and fortune is he?”
Edmund smiled; but, commanding his emotion, he replied, “His birth is noble, his degree and fortune uncertain.”
Her countenance fell, she sighed; he proceeded. “It is utterly impossible,” said he, “for any man of inferior degree to aspire to Lady Emma’s favour; her noble birth, the dignity of her beauty and virtues, must awe and keep at their proper distance, all men of inferior degree and merit; they may admire, they may revere; but they must not presume to approach too near, lest their presumption should meet with its punishment.”
“Well, sir,” said she, suddenly; “and so this friend of yours has commissioned you to speak in his behalf?”