You will not, I am sure, pay me so bad a compliment as to wish
me to renew the follies of my youth. If you love me, respect me;
promise, by the love you bear to Miss Somerville, and your affection
for this poor boy, that you will do as I wish you. Your honour and
peace of mind, as well as mine, demand it."
This severe rebuke, from a quarter, whence I least expected it, threw
me back with shame and confusion. As if a mirror had been held up
to me, I saw my own deformity. I saw that Eugenia was not only the
guardian of her own honour, but of mine, and of the happiness of Miss
Somerville, against whom I now stood convicted of foul deceit and
shameful wrong. I acknowledged my fault, I assured Eugenia that I was
bound to her, by every tie of honour, esteem, and love; and that her
boy and mine should be our mutual care.
"Thank you, dearest," said she: "you have taken a heavy load from my
mind: henceforth remember we are brother and sister. I shall now be
able to enjoy the pleasure of your society; and now, as that point is
settled, let me know what has occurred to you since we parted--the
particulars I mean, for the outline I have had before."
I related to her everything which had happened to me, from the hour of
our separation to the moment I saw her so unexpectedly in the theatre.
She was alternately affected with terror, surprise, and laughter. She
took a hearty crying spell over the motionless bodies of Clara and
Emily, as they lay on the floor; but recovered from that, and went
into hysterics of laughter, when I described the footman's mistake,
and the slap on the face bestowed on him by the housemaid.
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