Pagina 749 di 817

"I will not be interrupted! Hear me in silence. My daughter and

my nephew are formed for each other. They are descended, on the

maternal side, from the same noble line; and, on the father's,

from respectable, honourable, and ancient, though untitled,

families. Their fortune on both sides is splendid. They are

destined for each other by the voice of every member of their

respective houses; and what is to divide them?--the upstart

pretensions of a young woman without family, connections, or

fortune! Is this to be endured? But it must not, shall not be! If

you were sensible of your own good, you would not wish to quit

the sphere in which you have been brought up."

"In marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as

quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman's

daughter; so far we are equal."

"True. You are a gentleman's daughter. But what was your mother?

Who are your uncles and aunts? Do not imagine me ignorant of

their condition."