can obey. Could it cease to love you, Madam, unless you ceased to be
loveable, and could cease to display those celestial charms....

HEN. Ah! Sir, leave aside all this trash; you are encumbered with so
many Irises, Phyllises, Amaranthas, which everywhere in your verses
you paint as charming, and to whom you swear such love, that....

TRI. It is the mind that speaks, and not the heart. With them it is
only the poet that is in love; but it is in earnest that I love the
adorable Henriette.

HEN. Ah, Sir, I beg of you....

TRI. If I offend you, my offence is not likely to cease. This love,
ignored by you to this day, will be of eternal duration. Nothing can
put a stop to its delightful transports; and although your beauty
condemns my endeavours, I cannot refuse the help of a mother who
wishes to crown such a precious flame. Provided I succeed in obtaining
such great happiness, provided I obtain your hand, it matters little
to me how it comes to pass.

HEN. But are you aware, Sir, that you risk more than you think by
using violence; and to be plain with you, that it is not safe to marry
a girl against her wish, for she might well have recourse to a certain
revenge that a husband should fear.

TRI. Such a speech has nothing that can make me alter my purpose. A
philosopher is prepared against every event. Cured by reason of all
vulgar weaknesses, he rises above these things, and is far from
minding what does not depend on him. [Footnote: Compare 'School for