Love and Friendship

Laura, in continuation
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Alas! he little deserved the name for though
he told us that he was much concerned at our
Misfortunes, yet by his own account it
appeared that the perusal of them had neither
sight nor induced him to bestow one curse in
our vindicative stars. He told Sophia that his
daughter depended on her returning with him
to Macdonald-Hall and that as his cousin’s
friend, he should be happy to see me there
also. To Macdonald-Hall, therefore we went
and were received with great kindness by
Janetta the Daughter of Macdonald, and the
Mistress of the mansion. Janetta was then
only fifteen; naturally well disposed of,
endowed with a susceptible Heart, and a
sympathetic disposition, she might, had these
amiable qualities been properly encouraged,
have Nature; but unfortunately,
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her Father possessed not a soul sufficiently
exalted to admire so promising a Disposition
and had endeavored by every means of his
power to prevent it from increasing with her
years. He had so far extinguished the natural
noble Sensibility of her Heart, as to prevail
on her to accept an offer Recommendation.
They were to be married in a few months, and
Graham, was in the House when we arrived.
We soon saw through his character. He was
just such a Man as one might have expected
to be the choice of Macdonald. They said he
was Sensible, well-informed, and Agreeable;
we didn’t pretend to Judge of such trifles, but
as we were convinced, he had no soul, that he
had never read the sorrows of Werter, and
that his Hair bore not the least resemblance
to auburn,
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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
disfavor, 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 of, 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,
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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’Kenrie
better than anyone she knew besides. . This
confession satisfied us and after having
enumerated the good Qualities of M’Kenrie
and assured her that she desired to know
whether he had ever in any wise declared his
affection to her. 
“So far from having ever declared it, I have 
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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 at 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 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 convince how
absurd it is to suppose that he could ever make
a Bow or behave like any other person. 
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Having settled this point to our satisfaction, the
next we took into consideration was, to
determine in what manner we should inform
M’Kenrie of the favorable 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! Amiable Possessor of HER Heart whose
hand is destined to another, why do you thus
delay a confession able 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.”
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“Alas! Why do you thus so cruelly connive at
the projected Misery of her and of yourself by
delaying communicating that scheme which had
doubtless long possessed your imagination? A
secret Union will at once secure the felicity of
both.”
The amiable M’Kenrie, whose modesty as he
afterward assured us had been the only reason
for this 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 after a few more
private interviews, Sophia and I experienced the
satisfaction of seeing them depart for Gretna-
Green,
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which they chode for the celebration of their
Nuptials, in preference to any other place
although it was at a considerable distance from
Macdonald Hall.
Adieu, 
Laura
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LETTER THE THIRTEENTH
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 keys,
discovered that it was the Place where he kept
his Papers of consequence and amongst them
some bank notes 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, preps
the dishonestly gained, it was determined that
next time we should either of us happen to go
that way,