Place yourself in my situation. You once loved and was once beloved. I
am, indeed, your child. I glory in the name which you have had the
goodness to bestow upon me. Think and feel for your child, in her present
unhappy circumstances; in which she does not balance between happiness and
misery,--that alternative, alas! is not permitted,--but is anxious to
discover which path has fewest thorns, and in which her duty will allow
her to walk.

How greatly do you humble me, and how strongly evince your aversion to
Colden, by offering, as the price of his rejection, half your property!
How low am I fallen in your esteem, since you think it possible for such a
bribe to prevail! and what calamities must this alliance seem to threaten,
since the base selfishness of accepting this offer is better, in your
eyes, than my marriage!

Sure I never was unhappy till now. Pity me, my mother. Condescend to
write to me again, and, by disclosing all your objections to Colden,
reconcile, I earnestly entreat you, my duty to your inclination.

JANE TALBOT.




Letter XII


_To Mrs. Fielder_