 own, be an effort of pride and resentment.
    This contest, in point of dissimulation, continued till night, when the
company was paired for dancing, and Peregrine began the ball by walking a minuet
with the bride; then he took out the young lady to whom he was recommended by
Gauntlet, being very well pleased to see that her person was such as might have
inspired even Emily herself with jealousy, though, at the same time, he
perceived his mistress coupled with a gay young officer, whom (with all due
deference to his own qualifications) he considered as no despicable rival.
However, he himself first began hostilities, by becoming all of a sudden
particular with his partner, whom he forthwith assailed with flattering
compliments, that soon introduced the subject of love, upon which he expatiated
with great art and elocution, using not only the faculty of speech, but also the
language of the eyes, in which he was a perfect connoisseur.
    This behaviour soon manifested itself to the whole assembly, the greatest
part of whom believed that he was in good earnest captivated by the heart of his
partner, while Emilia, penetrating into his design, turned his own artillery
upon himself, by seeming to listen with pleasure to the addresses of his rival,
who was no novice in the art of making love: she even affected uncommon
vivacity, and giggled aloud at every whisper which he conveyed into her ear,
insomuch that she, in her turn, afforded speculation to the company, who
imagined the young soldier had made a conquest of the bridegroom's sister.
    Pickle himself began to cherish the same opinion, which gradually invaded
his good humour, and, at length, filled his bosom with rage. He strove to
suppress his indignation, and called every consideration of vanity and revenge
to his aid: he endeavoured to wean his eyes from the fatal object that disturbed
him, but they would not obey his direction and command; he wished himself
deprived of all sensation, when he heard her laugh, and saw her smile upon the
officer; and, in the course of country-dancing, when he was obliged to join
hands with her, the touch thrill'd thro' all his nerves, and kindled a flame
within him which he could not contain. In a word, his endeavours to conceal the
situation of his thoughts, were so violent, that his constitution could not
endure the shock; the sweat ran down his forehead in a stream, the colour
vanished from his cheeks, his knees began to totter, and his eyesight to fail:
so that he must have fallen at
