this Aſſurance leſſen his Deſpair of obtaining the Conſent of her Father, nor the Horrors which attended his Purſuit of her by any baſe or treacherous Method.
The Injury which he muſt thus do to Mr. Weſtern, and the Concern which would accrue to Mr. Allworthy, were Circumſtances that tormented him all Day, and haunted him on his Pillow at Night. His Life was a conſtant Struggle between Honour and Inclination, which alternately triumphed over each other in his Mind. He often reſolved, in the Abſence of Sophia, to leave her Father’s Houſe, and to ſee her no more; and as often, in her Preſence, forgot all thoſe Reſolutions, and determined to purſue her at the Hazard of his Life, and at the Forfeiture of what was much dearer to him.
This Conflict began ſoon to produce very ſtrong and viſible Effects: For he loſt all his uſual Sprightlineſs and Gaiety of Temper, and became not only melancholy when alone, but dejected and abſent in Company; nay, if ever he put on a forced Mirth, to comply with Mr. Weſtern’s Humour, the Conſtraint appeared ſo plain, that he may ſeem to have been giving theſtrongeſt
