have expected to be the choice of Macdonald. They said he was sensible, well-informed, and agreeable; we did not pretend to judge of such trifles, but, as we were convinced he had no soul, that he had never read the Sorrows ofWerter,5 and that his hair bore not
5. Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), Goethe's translated from its original German. It is often seen novel in letters telling the story of the title char-as a founding text of the European Romantic acter's hopeless love, was a hit in England when movement.
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52 6 / JANE AUSTEN
the slightest resemblance to auburn, we were certain that Janetta could feel no affection for him, or at least that she ought to feel none. The very circumstance of his being her father's choice, too, was so much in his disfavour, that had he been deserving her in every other respect, yet that of itself ought to have been a sufficient reason in the eyes of Janetta for rejecting him. These considerations we were determined to represent to her in their proper light and doubted not of meeting with the desired success from one naturally so well disposed, whose errors in the affair had only arisen from a want of proper confidence in her own opinion, and a suitable contempt of her father's. We found her, indeed, all that our warmest wishes could have hoped for; we had no difficulty to convince her that it was impossible she could love Graham, or that it was her duty to disobey her father; the only thing at which she rather seemed to hesitate was our assertion that she must be attached to some other person. For some time, she persevered in declaring that she knew no other young man for whom she had the smallest affection; but upon explaining the impossibility of such a thing she said that she believed she did like Captain M'Kenzie better than anyone she knew besides. This confession satisfied us and, after having enumerated the good qualities of M'Kenzie and assured her that she was violently in love with him, we desired to know whether he had
ever in anywise declared his affection to her.
'So far from having ever declared it, I have no reason to imagine that he has ever felt any for me.' said Janetta. 'That he certainly adores you (replied Sophia) there can be no doubt?. The attachment must be reciprocal?. Did he never gaze on you with admiration?tenderly press your hand?drop an involuntary tear?and leave the room abruptly?' 'Never (replied she) that I remember?he has always left the room indeed when his visit has been ended, but has never gone away particularly abruptly or without making a bow.' 'Indeed, my love (said I) you must be mistaken?: for it is absolutely impossible that he should ever have left you but with confusion, despair, and precipitation?. Consider but for a moment, Janetta, and you must be convinced how absurd it is to suppose that he could ever make a bow, or behave like any other person.' Having settled this point to our satisfaction, the next we took into consideration was to determine in what manner we should inform M'Kenzie of the favourable opinion Janetta entertained of him?. We at length agreed to acquaint him with it by an anonymous letter which Sophia drew up in the following manner.
Oh! happy lover of the beautiful Janetta; oh! enviable possessor of her
heart whose hand is destined to another, why do you thus delay a confes
sion of your attachment to the amiable object of it ? Oh! consider that a
few weeks will at once put an end to every flattering hope that you may
now entertain, by uniting the unfortunate victim of her father's cruelty to
the execrable and detested Graham.
Alas! why do you thus so cruelly connive at the projected misery of her
and of yourself by delaying to communicate that scheme which had doubt
less long possessed your imagination? A secret union will at once secure
the felicity of both.
The amiable M'Kenzie, whose modesty, as he afterwards assured us, had been the only reason of his having so long concealed the violence of his affection for Janetta, on receiving this billet flew on the wings of love to Macdonald Hall and so powerfully pleaded his attachment to her who inspired it that,
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after a few more private interviews, Sophia and I experienced the satisfaction of seeing them depart for Gretna Green,6 which they chose for the celebration of their nuptials, in preference to any other place, although it was at a considerable distance from Macdonald Hall.
Adieu. Laura
LETTER THE THIRTEENTH Laura in Continuation
They had been gone nearly a couple of hours, before either Macdonald Or Graham had entertained any suspicion of the affair?. And they might not even then have suspected it, but for the following little accident. Sophia, happening one day to open a private drawer in Macdonald's library with one of her own keys, discovered that it was the place where he kept his papers of consequence and amongst them some banknotes of considerable amount. This discovery she imparted to me; and having agreed together that it would be a proper treatment of so vile a wretch as Macdonald to deprive him of money, perhaps dishonestly gained, it was determined that the next time we should either of us happen to go that way, we would take one or more of the banknotes from the drawer. This well-meant plan we had often successfully put in execution; but alas! on the very day of Janetta's escape, as Sophia was majestically removing the fifth banknote from the drawer to her own purse, she was suddenly most impertinently interrupted in her employment by the entrance of Macdonald himself, in a most abrupt and precipitate manner. Sophia (who, though naturally all winning sweetness, could when occasions demanded it call forth the dignity of her sex) instantly put on a most forbidding look, and, darting an angry frown on the undaunted culprit, demanded in a haughty tone of voice 'Wherefore her retirement was thus insolently broken in on?' The unblushing Macdonald, without even endeavouring to exculpate himself from the crime he was charged with, meanly endeavoured to reproach Sophia with ignobly defrauding him of his money. The dignity of Sophia was wounded; 'Wretch (exclaimed she, hastily replacing the banknote in the drawer) how darest thou to accuse me of an act, of which the bare idea makes me blush?' The base wretch was still unconvinced and continued to upbraid the justly offended Sophia in such opprobrious language, that at length he so greatly provoked the gentle sweetness of her nature, as to induce her to revenge herself on him by informing him of Janetta's elopement, and of the active part we had both taken in the affair. At this period of their quarrel I entered the library and was, as you may imagine, equally offended as Sophia at the ill-grounded accusations of the malevolent and contemptible Macdonald. 'Base miscreant (cried I) how canst thou thus undauntedly endeavour to sully the spotless reputation of such bright
