"Sometimes a gleam of hope would play about her heart when she thought of her parents--'They cannot surely,' she would say, 'refuse to forgive me; or should they deny their pardon to me, they win not hate my innocent infant on account of its mother's errors.'"
— Rowson, Susanna (1762-1828)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for William Lane, at the Minerva
Date
1791, 1794
Metaphor
"Sometimes a gleam of hope would play about her heart when she thought of her parents--'They cannot surely,' she would say, 'refuse to forgive me; or should they deny their pardon to me, they win not hate my innocent infant on account of its mother's errors.'"
Metaphor in Context
Charlotte had now been left almost three months a prey to her own melancholy reflexions -- sad companions indeed; nor did any one break in upon her solitude but Belcour, who once or twice called to enquire after her health, and tell her he had in vain endeavoured to bring Montraville to hear reason; and once, but only once, was her mind cheared by the receipt of an affectionate letter from Mrs. Beauchamp. Often had she wrote to her perfidious seducer, and with the most persuasive eloquence endeavoured to convince him of her innocence; but these letters were never suffered to reach the hands of Montraville, or they must, though on the very eve of marriage, have prevented his deserting the wretched girl. Real anguish of heart had in a great measure faded her charms, her cheeks were pale from want of rest, and her eyes, by frequent, indeed almost continued weeping, were sunk and heavy. Sometimes a gleam of hope would play about her heart when she thought of her parents--"They cannot surely," she would say, "refuse to forgive me; or should they deny their pardon to me, they win not hate my innocent infant on account of its mother's errors." How often did the poor mourner wish for the consoling presence of the benevolent Mrs. Beauchamp.
(II.xxvii, pp. 70-1; pp. 103 in Penguin edition)
(II.xxvii, pp. 70-1; pp. 103 in Penguin edition)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Susanna Rowson, Charlotte: A Tale of Truth (London: Minerva Press, 1791). Republished in America: Charlotte: A Tale of Truth (Philadelphia: M. Carey, 1794). <Link to UVA Special Collections> <Link to UVA E-Text Center>
Text from U.Va. edition. Reading in Charlotte Temple and Lucy Temple, ed. Ann Douglas (New York: Penguin, 1991).
Text from U.Va. edition. Reading in Charlotte Temple and Lucy Temple, ed. Ann Douglas (New York: Penguin, 1991).
Date of Entry
05/29/2013
