"Tell me," cried he, "I beg, was it for her ... or for me that it was uttered? Tell me the extent of its purpose!"
"You cannot, surely, Sir, imagine--cannot for a moment suppose, that I was guided by such egregious vanity as to believe--" She stopt, extremely embarra.s.sed.
"Vanity," said he, "is out of the question, after what has just pa.s.sed; spare then, I beseech, your own candour, as well as my suspense, all unnecessary pain."
"I entreat, I conjure you, Sir," cried Ellis, now greatly agitated, "speak only of my commission!"
"Certainly," he answered, "this is not the period I should have chosen, for venturing upon so delicate--I had nearly said so perilous a subject; but, so imperiously called upon, I could neither be insincere, nor pusillanimous enough, to disavow a charge which every feeling rose to confess!--Otherwise--just now,--my judgment, my sense of propriety,--all in the dark as I am--would sedulously, scrupulously, have constrained my forbearance, till I knew--" He stopt, paused, and then expressively, yet gently added, "to whom I addressed myself!"
Ellis coloured highly as she answered, "I beg you, Sir, to consider all that was drawn from you this morning, or all that might be inferred, as perfectly null--unp.r.o.nounced and unthought."
"No!" cried he with energy, "no! To have postponed an explanation would have been prudent,--nay right:--but every sentiment of my mind, filled with trust in your worth, and reverence for your virtues, forbids now, a recantation! Imperious circ.u.mstances precipitated me to your feet--but my heart was there already!"
So extreme was the emotion with which Harleigh uttered these words, that he perceived not their effect upon Ellis, till gasping for breath, and nearly fainting, she sunk upon a chair; when so livid a paleness overspread her face, and so deadly a cold seemed to chill her blood, that, but for a friendly burst of tears, which ensued, her vital powers appeared to be threatened with immediate suspension.
Harleigh was instantly at her feet; grieved at her distress, yet charmed with a thousand nameless, but potent sensations, that whispered to every pulse of his frame, that a sensibility so powerful could spring only from too sudden a concussion of pleasure with surprise.
He had hardly time to breathe forth a protestation, when the sight of his posture brought back the blood to her cheeks, and force to her limbs; and, hastily rising, with looks of blushing confusion, yet with a sigh that spoke internal anguish, "I cannot attempt," she cried, "Mr Harleigh,--I could not, indeed, attempt--to express my sense of your generous good opinion!--yet--if you would not destine me to eternal misery, you must fly me--till you can forget this scene--as you would wish me to fly perdition!"
She rose to be gone; but Harleigh stopt her, crying, in a tone of amazement, "Is it possible,--can it be possible, that with intellects such as yours, clear, penetrating, admirable, you can conceive eternal misery will be your portion, if you break a forced engagement made with a mad woman?--and made but to prevent her immediate self-destruction?"
Shaking her head, but averting her eyes, Ellis would neither speak not be detained; and Harleigh, who durst not follow her, remained confounded.