man, of no extraordinary character as to morals, who should seek to rob a
family of eminence of a child so valuable; and who threatened, if he
could not obtain her in preference to a man chosen by themselves, that he
would avenge himself upon them all by acts of violence.

I added, That he was very much mistaken, if he thought to intimidate you
by such menaces: for that, though your disposition was all sweetness, yet
I knew not a steadier temper in the world than yours; nor one more
inflexible, (as your friends had found, and would still further find, if
they continued to give occasion for its exertion,) whenever you thought
yourself in the right; and that you were ungenerously dealt with in
matters of too much moment to be indifferent about. Miss Clarissa
Harlowe, Mr. Lovelace, let me tell you, said I, timid as her foresight
and prudence may make her in some cases, where she apprehends dangers to
those she loves, is above fear, in points where her honour, and the true
dignity of her sex, are concerned.--In short, Sir, you must not think to
frighten Miss Clarissa Harlowe into such a mean or unworthy conduct as
only a weak or unsteady mind can be guilty of.

He was so very far from intending to intimidate you, he said, that he
besought me not to mention one word to you of what had passed between us:
that what he had hinted at, which carried the air of menace, was owing to
the fervour of his spirits, raised by his apprehensions of losing all
hope of you for ever; and on a supposition, that you were to be actually
forced into the arms of a man you hated: that were this to be the case,
he must own, that he should pay very little regard to the world, or its
censures: especially as the menaces of some of your family now, and their
triumph over him afterwards, would both provoke and warrant all the
vengeance he could take.