He embraced me with the most touching fervour; he expressed the noblest sentiments--but in the matter of his contemplated marriage, he was immovable.

Life was only tolerable to him on one condition.

The beloved object, or death--such was the programme of this volcanic old man.
To make the prospect more hopeless still, the beloved object proved, on this occasion, to be a bold enough woman to play her trump card at starting.
I give the jade her due.

She assumed a perfectly unassailable attitude: we had her full permission to break off the match--if we could.

"I refer you to your father.