"Do you think it possible, Lucy, for a Frenchwoman to love? is not vanity the ruling passion of their hearts?"
— Brooke [née Moore], Frances (bap. 1724, d. 1789)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Dodsley
Date
1769
Metaphor
"Do you think it possible, Lucy, for a Frenchwoman to love? is not vanity the ruling passion of their hearts?"
Metaphor in Context
To Miss Fermor.
Sunday morning.
Could you have believed he would have expected such a proof of my desire to oblige him? but what can he ask that his Emily will refuse? I will see this friend of his, this Madame Des Roches; I will even love her, if it is in woman to be so disinterested. She loves him; he sees her; they say she is amiable; I could have wished her visit to Quebec had been delayed.
But he comes; he looks up; his eyes seem to thank me for this excess of complaisance: what is there I would not do to give him pleasure?
Six o'clock.
Do you think her so very pleasing, my dear Bell? she has fine eyes, but have they not more fire than softness? There was a vivacity in her manner which hurt me extremely: could she have behaved with such unconcern, had she loved as I do?
Do you think it possible, Lucy, for a Frenchwoman to love? is not vanity the ruling passion of their hearts?
May not Rivers be deceived in supposing her so much attached to him? was there not some degree of affectation in her particular attention to me? I cannot help thinking her artful.
Perhaps I am prejudiced: she may be amiable, but I will own she does not please me. Rivers begged me to have a friendship for her; I am afraid this is more than is in my power: friendship, like love, is the child of sympathy, not of constraint.
Adieu! Yours,
Emily Montague.
(II, pp. 171-2)
Sunday morning.
Could you have believed he would have expected such a proof of my desire to oblige him? but what can he ask that his Emily will refuse? I will see this friend of his, this Madame Des Roches; I will even love her, if it is in woman to be so disinterested. She loves him; he sees her; they say she is amiable; I could have wished her visit to Quebec had been delayed.
But he comes; he looks up; his eyes seem to thank me for this excess of complaisance: what is there I would not do to give him pleasure?
Six o'clock.
Do you think her so very pleasing, my dear Bell? she has fine eyes, but have they not more fire than softness? There was a vivacity in her manner which hurt me extremely: could she have behaved with such unconcern, had she loved as I do?
Do you think it possible, Lucy, for a Frenchwoman to love? is not vanity the ruling passion of their hearts?
May not Rivers be deceived in supposing her so much attached to him? was there not some degree of affectation in her particular attention to me? I cannot help thinking her artful.
Perhaps I am prejudiced: she may be amiable, but I will own she does not please me. Rivers begged me to have a friendship for her; I am afraid this is more than is in my power: friendship, like love, is the child of sympathy, not of constraint.
Adieu! Yours,
Emily Montague.
(II, pp. 171-2)
Provenance
Searching HDIS for "ruling passion"
Citation
At least 8 entries in the ESTC (1769, 1775, 1777, 1784, 1786, 1800).
See The History of Emily Montague. In Four Volumes. By the Author of Lady Julia Mandeville. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1769). <Link to ESTC><Link to Penn's Digital Library><Link to LION>
See The History of Emily Montague. In Four Volumes. By the Author of Lady Julia Mandeville. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1769). <Link to ESTC><Link to Penn's Digital Library><Link to LION>
Theme
Ruling Passion
Date of Entry
05/27/2004
