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27 pages

English

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The Fatal Secret: Or, Constancy in Distress (1724) is a novel by Eliza Haywood. Blending tragedy and comedy, Haywood explores the intersection of ambition, family, and desire to reveal how women so often fall victim to the whims of villainous men. The Fatal Secret: Or, Constancy in Distress is considered a prime example of the popular genre of amatory fiction, which often used love triangles to expose the imbalance between male and female desire in a patriarchal society. “Nothing is so generally coveted by Womankind, as to be accounted Beautiful; yet nothing renders the Owner more liable to inconveniences.” Getting by on looks alone, young Anadea has managed to secure herself a marriage proposal from a wealthy gentleman. Pressured by her father, she believes it is up to her to renew her once-prominent family’s fortune and status in eighteenth century Paris. One night, she falls in love with the handsome Count Blessure. Although he reciprocates her feelings, he is keenly aware of his own family’s prejudice against the poor, no matter the nobility of their ancestors. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Eliza Haywood’s The Fatal Secret: Or, Constancy in Distress is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Literary

British literature

18th century

Paris

Fiction

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Publié par	Mint Editions
Date de parution	28 septembre 2021
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781513294445
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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The Fatal Secret
Or, Constancy in Distress
Eliza Haywood

The Fatal Secret: Or, Constancy in Distress was first published in 1725.
This edition published by Mint Editions 2021.
ISBN 9781513291598 | E-ISBN 9781513294445
Published by Mint Editions®
minteditionbooks.com
Publishing Director: Jennifer Newens
Design & Production: Rachel Lopez Metzger
Project Manager: Micaela Clark
Typesetting: Westchester Publishing Services

C ONTENTS Begin Reading

Nothing is so generally coveted by Womankind, as to be accounted Beautiful; yet nothing renders the Owner more liable to Inconveniences. She who is fond of Praise, is in great Danger of growing too fond of the Praiser; and if by chance she does defend herself from the Attacks made on her Virtue , it is almost a Miracle if her Reputation receives no Prejudice by them: And a Woman who is very much admir’d for the Charms of her Face , ought with infinitely more Reason be so for those of her Prudence , who preserves both amidst so many Enemies as Love and Opportunity will raise against them. For one Woman that has made her Fortune by her Beauty, there are a thousand whose utter Destruction it has been.—Some, among a Crowd of Adorers, are so long determining which shall be the happy Man, that Time stealing everyday away some Part of their Attractions, they grow at last depriv’d of all, and on a sudden find themselves abandon’d, and not worth a Bow from those whose Hearts and Knees bended at their Approach before.—Others, puzzled with a too great Variety, have their Judgments dimm’d with the Confusion of Ideas, and more frequently make Choice of the worst than the contrary.—A third Sort there are, who, by becoming a publick Toast, assume to themselves such an Air of Insolence and Self-sufficiency, that their Behaviour forfeits the Conquest which their Eyes had gain’d, and they grow in a little Time rather Objects of Ridicule than Admiration.—Numberless are the Dangers to which a young Creature, more than ordinarily fair, is incident; and even where there is the greatest Stock of Virtue, Modesty, and good Sense, it sometimes is the Occasion of Misfortunes which are not to be warded off by all those Guard.
Anadea, the only Daughter of a Gentleman of high Extraction, but mean Fortune, in Paris was so much celebrated for her exceeding Beauty, that it grew almost a Proverb; and it was a common Saying, when anyone would praise a Lady, to cry, She is as handsome as Anadea! as fine shap’d as Anadea! —Nor were the Charms of her Conversation less amiable than those of her Person: Her indulgent Father, though in his Youth he had lavish’d the best Part of his Patrimony, and had little to depend on but what accrued from a Post he held at Court, was now so good a Husband in other Things, as to afford her a very liberal Education. There was no Accomplishment fit for a young Lady, that she was not Mistress of; and she made such good Use of her Time, that before she arrived at the Age of Sixteen, she acquir’d more than the most ingenious of her Fellow-Learners could do at Twenty four. Nor confin’d she her Studies to that Part of Education common to her own Sex: She had an extensive Genius, and emulated the other in their Search of Knowledge; she went a great ways in the Mathmaticks; understood several Languages perfectly well; and had she presever’d in Application, might have been as eminent for her Learning, as the celebrated Madam Dacier:
But she being now a Woman, and her Father’s Age, and some Infirmities incident to it, making him believe he had not long to live, and consequently desirous of seeing his beloved Child dispos’d of before his Death, induced him to entertain her often with Discourse of Marriage. He was continually pressing her to let him know which, of the many who had offer’d themselves, was most agreeable to her Mind; but finding her Inclinations far from being as he desired, and that she rather seem’d to listen to such Conversations through Obedience to him, than any Liking to change her condition, he grew extremely chagrin’d at it, and at last told her, that he was resolved on her Marriage, and as his Indulgence had prevail’d upon him to give her the Choice of which of her Admirers should be Man, he expected she should, without any farther Evasions, determine. This was the first Shock Anadea had ever found to ruffle her Calm of Life; but, unable to stand it, well knowing her Father, in spite of all the Tenderness he had for her, was not of a Humour to endure Disobedience in those he had Power over, answered him in this Manner.—Since ’tis your Pleasure, Sir, that I must be a Wife, I shall endeavour to conquer my Inclinations, which I confess tend to a single Life; but as it is your Place to command, and mine to obey, I beg you will exert that Power in everything; direct me to whom I must resign my Liberty, and I shall yield with as little Reluctance as Nature will permit. These Words were not perfectly pleasing to him they were address’d to; he loved her too well, to oblige her to do anything to which she was averse; and to perswade her that it was wholly for her Interest to marry, omitted no Arguments which he thought might be conducive to that End: He represented to her the Dangers of a young Woman’s being left alone in the World, expos’d both to Temptations and Insults; and reminded her, that when he was gone, how impossible it would be for her to support herself in the Manner she had liv’d, in so moving a Strain, and expressed so tender a Grief that he was unable to leave her a Fortune suitable to her Birth, and the Education he had given her, that she had no longer anything to reply in Contradiction to the Justice of what he alleg’d; and if she was not in reality convinced, she chose to appear so, rather than bear to see the Sorrows which his paternal Care, and soft Commiseration for the Apprehension of what Misfortunes she might fall into, involved him in—She assured him at last, that she was perfectly easy, and ready to fulfil his Commands; but as to the Choice of a Husband, begg’d he would not leave it to her, telling him, with a great deal of Sincerity, that as she had no particular Aversion to any Man, so among the Number of those who had made Pretensions, she was not capable of feeling any particular Regard , but would endeavour to increase a Respect for him who he should think most worthy. The Old gentleman, finding himself oblig’d to name the Person, was not much less at a Loss than his Daughter, for there were several of equal Merit who aim’d at the Blessing of obtaining her: However, thinking he had done enough for once, in getting her Consent to marry, he deferred letting her know to whom, till another Time.—But it was not many Days before the Chevalier De Samar gain’d the Advantage of all his Rivals.—He was descended from a very noble Family, which was no small Recommendation to the Father of Anadea , had a handsome Estate, and was a Gentleman of known Sobriety and good Conduct.—He was the Person fix’d on; and Anadea , when she heard it, having nothing to offer in Opposition, the o’erjoyed Lover was soon made acquainted with the Happiness designed him, and everything was getting ready with all possible Expedition for the Solemnity. The Time which the necessary Preparations took up, Anadea pass’d in modelling her Soul, as much as possible, to be pleas’d with the State for which she was intended.—The Chevalier had many good Qualities, and she endeavoured to add to them in Imagination a thousand more. Never did any Woman take greater Pains to resist the Dictates of Desire, than she did to create them: But, alas! she had not yet seen those Charms which were necessary to inspire the Passion which alone could make the Loss of her beloved Liberty a Blessing: And though she joined in that Opinion she found the whole World had of him, that her intended Husband was a perfect fine Gentleman, yet she had it not in her Power to feel any of those soft Emotions, those Impatiencies for his Absence, those tender Thrillings in his Presence, nor any of those agreeable Perplexities which are the unfailing consequences of Love; and without which she was sensible, both by Reading, and her own Observation on others, there could be no true Extasies in Possession. Not all his Assiduity, not all his Tenderness, not all her own Efforts, could bring her to anymore than to be barely satisfied with her Lot; and she began, at length, to lay the Blame on her own want of Sensibility, and to imagine she had not a Heart fram’d like those of other Women.—Happy, at least contented, might she have been, had she never had Cause to change her Sentiments. But soon, too soon, the luckless Moment came, which was to convince her, that of all her Sex, none was more capable of receiving a soft Impression, nor, for all her Knowledge, none less able to repel it.
Hap’ning to be one Evening at the House of a young Lady of her particular Acquaintance, the Count Blessure , Son to a Marquis of that Name, being lately arriv’d at Paris , whence he had been absent sometime on his Travels, made his visit there at the same Time. It was the Sight of him that first gave her to know there was a Possibility for her to wish to be a Wife, and if her design’d Husband had been like him, she might, with equal Ardour, equal Impatiency, have long’d for the happy Hour which should resign her to him.—The Count, indeed, had everything which could excuse a Woman’s sudden Liking; for besides the Charms of his Person, (which were hardly to be equall’d,) there was something irresistibly engaging in his Conversation;—something so very graceful, yet withal so sweet, that it was almost an Impossibility to be in his Company without being more than ordinarily pleas’d with it:—But, beside the Attractions he had for the Generality of those who knew him, all his Notions and Sentiments of Things, and his Manner of expressing what he thought, were more particularly adapted to move the Soul of Anadea ;—He had