Davys, Mary (1674-1732)

The Cousins [from The Works]

London

Printed by H. Woodfall

1725

"No, said Octavio, if thou art Clara, thou art still the only Creature upon Earth that can give relief to my distracted Mind and wounded Heart; thy Wrongs have cost me too many Months repose, and I have given up my self too much to the thoughts of thee, to slight or despise thee now I have found thee: but the Thoughts and almost Certainty of thy Death, are so impressed upon my Mind, and thou art so very unlike thy self, that still methinks, I doubt my own Happiness."

Octavio, who had listned to the few Words she had spoken, thought himself very well acquainted with that Voice, but cou'd not persuade himself that he had ever seen the Face in his Life. Sir, said he to Lorenzo, you promis'd to shew me a Place fit only for the wretched, and surely this is it. The poor Woman, who had never rais'd her Eyes from the Ground, hearing Octavio speak, lifted 'em up, and looking on him, cry'd out aloud, Octavio ! and then fell to the Ground. Octavio, who knew her not, was much at a loss to know how she came by his Name; however he ran to her, and with the help of his Companions, brought her to herself; and then asked her how she came to know him. Alas! said she, are Poverty and Rags disguise enough to make Octavio forget his Clara? And is it possible that any thing can alter me past your knowledge? My Misfortunes are doubly such, if you resolve to forsake and despise me for them. No, said Octavio, if thou art Clara, thou art still the only Creature upon Earth that can give relief to my distracted Mind and wounded Heart; thy Wrongs have cost me too many Months repose, and I have given up my self too much to the thoughts of thee, to slight or despise thee now I have found thee: but the Thoughts and almost Certainty of thy Death, are so impressed upon my Mind, and thou art so very unlike thy self, that still methinks, I doubt my own Happiness. If you consider the difference, said she, between Want and Plenty, Rest and Labour, Ease and Pain, between Quiet of Mind, and distracted racking Thoughts, you will no longer wonder at the alteration you see in me. If Octavio still loves Clara, and can love her in the midst of so much Poverty, he may yet be as happy as she can make him; and need no longer doubt, but that he has infallibly recover'd what has been so long lost, both to him and herself.
(pp. 244-5)

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Text from The Works of Mrs. Davys: Consisting of, Plays, Novels, Poems, and Familiar Letters. Several of which never before Publish'd, 2 vols. (London: H. Woodfall, 1725). <Link to ECCO>

06/21/2013