Page:Armatafragment00ersk.djvu/301

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¬as we had five other places to go to, where we might prohahly see even greater beauties than those who had attracted my admira- tion. We then retired to a small room at the bottom of the staircase, on the steps of which we had been detained two hours, and, whilst our servants were engaged in finding the car- riage, I earnestly pressed him to return home, and to find some other opportunity of present- ing me to his friends. — " Friends of mine!'*' he answered ; " Damn me ! if I ever saw one of them before to-night — nor care if they were all in hell." Encouraged by this, I now fairly owned to him that I had not the strength nor inclination to proceed any farther. — He seemed much affected with my distress, saying, at the same time, with the greatest possible kindness, that he would most willingly give up every satisfaction of his own for my accommo- dation, but that it was really not in his power — " My sister," he said, " whom you have not yet seen, having had the misfortune to lose her ¬mother ¬