All my
business shall be your gratification, all my pleasure your happiness.
Forget then, dearest maiden, the poverty of your former condition, and
the connections you formed in an hour of ignorance and obscurity. From
this moment let a new era and better prospects commence. Enjoy that
wealth, which can no where so well be bestowed; and those
gratifications, which so obviously belong to that delicate and
enchanting form."
The proposal of Roderic called forth more than ever the spirit and the
resentment of Imogen. She did not feel herself in the slightest degree
attracted by the magnificence of his offers. She knew of no use for
superfluous riches. She felt no wants unsupplied, and no wishes
ungratified. What motive is there in the whole region of human
perceptions, that can excite the contented mind to the pursuit of
affluence? "And dost thou think," said the fair one, with a gesture of
disdain that made her look ten times more amiable, "to seduce me with
baits like these? Know, mistaken man, that I am happy. I spin the finest
wool of our flocks, and drain the distended udders of our cows. I
superintend the dairies; the butter and the cheese are the produce of my
industry. In these employments my time is spent in chearfulness and
pleasure.
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