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<title>Frankenstein, 1831, Vol. 3, Chap. 1, Frame 2</title>

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I <a href="../V3notes/trembled.html">trembled violently</a> at
his exordium, and my father continued--</p><p>

"I confess, my son, that I have always looked forward to your
marriage with our dear Elizabeth as <a
href="../V3notes/domestic.html">the tie of our domestic
comfort</a>, and the stay of my declining years. You were
attached to each other from your earliest infancy; you studied
together, and appeared, in dispositions and tastes, entirely
suited to one another. But so blind is the experience of man,
that what I conceived to be the best assistants to my plan, may
have entirely destroyed it. You, perhaps, regard her as your
sister, without any wish that she might become your wife. Nay,
you may have met with another whom you may love; and, considering
yourself as bound in honour to Elizabeth, this struggle may
occasion the poignant misery which you appear to feel."</p><p>

"My dear father, re-assure yourself. I love my cousin tenderly
and sincerely. I never saw any woman who excited, as Elizabeth
does, my warmest admiration and affection. My future hopes and
prospects are entirely bound up in the expectation of our union."</p><p>

"The expression of your sentiments on this subject, my dear
Victor, gives me more pleasure than I have for some time
experienced. If you feel thus, we shall assuredly be happy,
however present events may cast a gloom over us. But it is this
gloom which appears to have taken so strong a hold of your mind,
that I wish to dissipate. Tell me, therefore, whether you object
to an immediate solemnisation of the marriage. We have been
unfortunate, and recent events have drawn us from that every-day
tranquillity befitting my years and infirmities. You are younger;
yet I do not suppose, possessed as you are of a competent
fortune, that an <a href="../V3notes/earlymar.html">early
marriage would at all interfere with any future plans of honour
and utility</a> that you may have formed. Do not suppose,
however, that I wish to dictate happiness to you, or that a delay
on your part would cause me any serious uneasiness. Interpret my
words with <a href="../V3notes/candour.html">candour</a>, and
answer me, I conjure you, with confidence and sincerity."</p>




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