"
That, after various attempts, was, she thought, the best letter that she
could send--if she should make up her mind to be Lady Fawn. But, on the
morning of the 30th of March she had not sent her letter. She had told
herself that she would take two days to think of her reply, and on the
Friday morning the few words she had prepared were still lying in her
desk.
What was she to get by marrying a man she absolutely disliked? That he
also absolutely disliked her was not a matter much in her thoughts. The
man would not ill-treat her because he disliked her; or it might perhaps
be juster to say that the ill-treatment which she might fairly anticipate
would not be of a nature which would much affect her comfort grievously.
He would not beat her, nor rob her, nor lock her up, nor starve her. He
would either neglect her or preach sermons to her. For the first she could
console herself by the attention of others; and should he preach, perhaps
she could preach too--as sharply if not as lengthily as his lordship. At
any rate she was not afraid of him. But what would she gain? It is very
well to have a rock, as Mrs. Carbuncle had said, but a rock is not
everything.
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