laughed when he said this, for I thought he was jesting; so he was,
partly, yet more than half in earnest.

"No, no," said he; "I shall never marry. I had sooner not break the
laws of my country, but if it came to be a question between breaking
them or the laws of true morality, I should not hesitate in my
choice. Love without marriage is a sin against society; marriage
without love is a sin against Nature."

Of course he is right. How my mother would have loved him! Do you
remember her invectives against marriage? It was the very perfection
of the tie between her and my father that filled her with
indignation and regret whenever she looked about her and beheld, on
all sides, the parody of her heaven.

Good-bye. You are getting very lazy, Mrs. Norris. How dare you leave
me letterless so long?

Write directly you get this to

Your loving
EMILIA.




LETTER XVII.


GRAYSMILL, November 21st.