If thou canst convince me time enough for the day, that thou meanest to do honourably by her, in her own sense of the word; or, if not time enough, wilt fix some other day, (which thou oughtest to leave to her option, and not bind her down for the Thursday; and the rather, as thy pretence for so doing is founded on an absolute fiction;) I will then most cheerfully undertake thy cause; by person, if she will admit me to her presence; if she will not, by pen.  But, in this case, thou must allow me to be guarantee for thy family.  And, if so, so much as I value thee, and respect thy skill in all the qualifications of a gentleman, thou mayest depend upon it, that I will act up to the character of a guarantee, with more honour than the princes of our day usually do——­to their shame be it spoken.

Mean time let me tell thee, that my heart bleeds for the wrong this angelic lady has received:  and if thou dost not marry her, if she will have thee, and, when married, make her the best and tenderest of husbands, I would rather be a dog, a monkey, a bear, a viper, or a toad, than thee.

Command me with honour, and thou shalt find none readier to oblige thee than

Thy sincere friend,
John Belford.

LETTER XLII

Mr. Lovelace, to John Belford, ESQ. 
M. Hall, June 27.  Tuesday night, near 12.

Your’s reached me this moment, by an extraordinary push in the messengers.

What a man of honour thou of a sudden!——­

And so, in the imaginary shape of a guarantee, thou threatenest me!

Had I not been in earnest as to the lady, I should not have offered to employ thee in the affair.  But, let me say, that hadst thou undertaken the task, and I hadst afterwards thought fit to change my mind, I should have contented myself to tell thee, that that was my mind when thou engagedst for me, and to have given thee the reasons for the change, and then left thee to thy own discretion:  for never knew I what fear of man was—­nor fear of woman neither, till I became acquainted with Miss Clarissa Harlowe, nay, what is most surprising, till I came to have her in my power.

And so thou wilt not wait upon the charmer of my heart, but upon terms and conditions!—­Let it alone and be curs’d; I care not.—­But so much credit did I give to the value thou expressedst for her, that I thought the office would have been acceptable to thee, as serviceable to me; for what was it, but to endeavour to persuade her to consent to the reparation of her own honour?  For what have I done but disgraced myself, and been a thief to my own joys?—­And if there be a union of hearts, and an intention to solemnize, what is there wanting but the foolish ceremony?—­and that I still offer.  But, if she will keep back her hand, if she will make me hold out mine in vain, how can I help it?