r
seemed not to regard what he had done; but casting her eyes round the
room, and seeing nothing of what he had mentioned,--Where is this
drawing? cried she. In my heart, adorable Mattakesa, answered he, falling
at her feet at the same time:--it is not the city of Petersburg, but the
charming image of its brightest ornament, that the god of love has
engraven on my heart in characters too indelible ever to be
erased:--from the first moment I beheld those eyes my soul has been on
fire, and I must have consumed with inward burnings had I not revealed
my flame:--pardon, continued he, the boldness of a passion which knows
no bounds; and tho' I may not be so worthy of your love as the too happy
Horatio, I am certainly not less deserving of your pity.

Surprize, and perhaps a mixture of secret satisfaction prevented her
from interrupting him during the first part of his discourse; but rage,
at the mention of Horatio, forced from her this exclamation:--has the
villain then betrayed me! cried she.--No, madam, replied he, justice
obliges me to acquit him, tho' my rival.--He had the misfortune, in
putting your billet into his pocket, to let it fall; I took it up unseen
by him,--opened it, read it, and must confess, that all my generosity to
my friend was wholly swallowed up in my passion for you.--I returned not
to him that kind declaration you were pleased to make him, and he is
ignorant of the blessing you intended for him:--if the crime I have been
guilty of seem unpardonable in your eyes, command my death, I will
instantly obey you, for life would be a torment under your displeasure;
and if, in my last moments, you vouchsafe some part of that softness to
the occasion of my fate, that you so lavishly bestowed on the fortunate
Horatio, I will bless the lovely mouth that dooms me to destruction!

He pronounced all this with an emphasis, which made her not doubt the
power of her charms; and surveying him while he was speaking, found
enough in his person to compensate for the disappointment she had met
with from Horatio: besides, she reflected, that if what he had told her
concerning the dropping her letter, was a fiction, it was however an
ingenious one, and shewed his wit, as well as love, in bringing both
himself and friend off in so handsome a manner. She was infatuated with
the praises he gave her;--the pathetic expressions he made use of,
assured her of the ardency of his desires, and as she could not be
certain of being abl