He sometimes thought, that
Delia might yet be induced to adopt the plan he had proposed; and
sometimes he gave way to the serene confidence she expressed, and indulged
the pleasing expectation, that virtue would not always remain without its
reward.
CHAPTER V.
_A Woman of Learning_.
We are now brought, in the course of our story, to the memorable scene at
Miss Cranley's. "Miss Cranley's!" exclaims one of our readers, in a tone
of admiration. "Miss Cranley's!" cries another, "and pray who is she?"
I distribute my readers into two classes, the indolent and the
supercilious, and shall accordingly address them upon the present
occasion. To the former I have nothing more to say, than to refer them
back to the latter part of Chapter I., Part I. where, my dear ladies, you
will find an accurate account of the character of two personages, who it
seems you have totally forgotten.
To the supercilious I have a very different story to tell. Most learned
sirs, I kiss your hands. I acknowledge my error, and throw myself upon
your clemency. You see however, gentlemen, that you were somewhat
mistaken, when you imagined that I, like my fair patrons, the indolent,
had quite lost these characters from my memory.
To speak ingenuously, I did indeed suppose, as far as I could calculate
the events of this important narrative beforehand, that the Miss Cranleys
would have come in earlier, and have made a more conspicuous figure, than
they now seem to have any chance of doing.
Pages:
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94