I have used every argument to convince him that this secret intercourse is dangerous to us both; I even pressed him to pursue his views of fortune without farther regard to me, and to consider my peace of mind as sufficiently secured by the knowledge that he had not fallen under my father's sword.

He answers--but how can I detail all he has to answer?
He claims those hopes as his due which my mother permitted him to entertain, and would persuade me to the madness of a union without my father's sanction.

But to this, Matilda, I will not be persuaded.

I have resisted, I have subdued, the rebellious feelings which arose to aid his plea; yet how to extricate myself from this unhappy labyrinth in which fate and folly have entangled us both! 'I have thought upon it, Matilda, till my head is almost giddy; nor can I conceive a better plan than to make a full confession to my father.

He deserves it, for his kindness is unceasing; and I think I have observed in his character, since I have studied it more nearly, that his harsher feelings are chiefly excited where he suspects deceit or imposition; and in that respect, perhaps, his character was formerly misunderstood by one who was dear to him.