knowing, as you must, that I am acquainted with the existence of your wife?"
"I do not plead for your hand (replied he with the most deliberate coolness), 'tis for your heart: consent to be mine; consent to accept the only proposals I can now make you; and, in return, I will not only secure you an independence and a delightful asylum, where you can fear nothing, but solemnly promise, if ever I have power to do so, to make you my wife."
"I will not attempt (said Madeline), to express my indignation and contempt—I shall content myself with merely saying, that, were you even dear to my heart, I would reject offers which could entail infamy upon me: think, therefore, whether there is a probability of my accepting them, when I tell you, that, united to my horror at your baseness, is an aversion to you too strong for any language to describe."
