Brooke, Henry (c. 1703-1783)

The Fool of Quality, or, the History of Henry Earl of Moreland

Dublin

Printed for the Author by Dillon Chamberlaine

Published serially, 1765-1770

"[H]is Heart must have been harder than the Stones of Thebes, if you did not attract it and move it, at pleasure, by the Touch of those Fingers and the Bewitchment of those Accents"

Ah, Mr. Harry, says she, I see, I see that you have a gentle and a kindred Kind of Heart, and that, if ever you happen to love, you will love with great Tenderness. --Have you ever loved, Mr. Harry? --Indeed, Madam, I cannot say, my Commerce has been very little among the Ladies. If I met Love on my Way, or even found it in my Heart, perhaps I should not rightly know what to make of it. But, my Matilda, my charming Sister, (your Father has honoured me with the Privilege of calling you by that dear that tender Name) why will you not entrust your best your truest Friend with the Secret of your Disquiet? whoever the Object of your Esteem may be, I here solemnly engage, at the Risque of my Life and the Loss of my Fortune, to bring him voluntarily to pay his Vows at your Feet. O, my Sister, I would to Heaven that he had now been present, as I have been present, to have his Soul melted and minted as mine has been; his Heart must have been harder than the Stones of Thebes, if you did not attract it and move it, at pleasure, by the Touch of those Fingers and the Bewitchment of those Accents. --Ah, you Flatterer, she cried, with a Voice tuned to Harmony, and a Face form'd of Smiles, you almost tempt me to tell you what, for the World, I would not wish that any one in the World should know. But, I must snatch myself from the Danger. --So saying, and casting at me a vanishing Glance, she was out of sight in a twinkling.
(pp. 20-1)

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17 entries in the ESTC (1765, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1776, 1777, 1782, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794).

Text from The Fool of Quality, or, the History of Henry Earl of Moreland. (Dublin: Printed for the Author by Dillon Chamberlaine, 1765-1770). <Link to ECCO>. Note, vol. 2 is dated 1766, vol. 3 1768, vol. 4 1769, vol. 5 1770.

04/14/2005