Sister, and
that all the denials she had given in a different manner had been
without effect, therefore was obliged to assume a harshness, which was
far from being natural to her, in order to prevent consequences which
she had too much reason to apprehend.
Horatio soon discovered he had a rival in monsieur de Coigney; and tho'
he easily saw by Charlotta's behaviour that he had nothing to fear on
this score, yet the interruptions he received from the addresses of this
new lover, made him little able to endure his presence, and he sometimes
could not refrain himself from saying such things as, had not the other
been too much buoyed up with his vanity to take them as meant to
himself, must have occasioned a quarrel.
She made use of all the power she had over him in order to curb the
impetuosity of his temper whenever he met this disturber of his wishes;
but his jealousy would frequently get the better of the respect he paid
her, and they never were together in her apartment without filling her
with mortal fears. She therefore found it absolutely necessary to get
rid of an adorer she hated, in order to hinder one she loved from doing
any thing which might deprive her of him; and tho' she had a real
friendship for mademoiselle de Coigney, yet she chose rather to break
with her, than run the hazard she was continually exposed to by her
brother's indefatigable pursuit.
