Damon and Delia

Damon and Delia

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Title: Damon and Delia A Tale
Author: William Godwin
Release Date: November 27, 2003 [EBook #10318]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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AND DELIA ***

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DAMON
AND
DELIA:

A TALE.
--NEQUE SEMPER ARCUM TENDIT APOLLO. HOR.
LONDON: PRINTED FOR T. HOOKHAM, AT HIS CIRCULATING
LIBRARY, NEW BOND-STEET, CORNER OF BRUTON-STREET.
M,DCC,LXXXIV.
CONTENTS
PART the FIRST.
CHAPTER I.
Containing introductory Matter.
CHAPTER II.
A Ball
CHAPTER III.
A Ghost.
CHAPTER IV.
A love Scene.
CHAPTER V.
A Man of Humour.
CHAPTER VI.
Containing some Specimens of Heroism.
CHAPTER VII.

_Containing that with which the Reader will be acquainted when he has
read it._
CHAPTER VIII.
Two Persons of Fashion.
CHAPTER IX.
A tragical Resolution.

CONTENTS.
PART the SECOND.
CHAPTER I.
In which the Story begins over again.
CHAPTER II.
The History of Mr. Godfrey.
CHAPTER III.
A Misanthrope.
CHAPTER IV.
Much ado about nothing.
CHAPTER V.
A Woman of learning.
CHAPTER VI.

A Catastrophe.
CHAPTER VII.
Containing what will terrify the Reader.
CHAPTER VIII.
A Denouement.
CHAPTER IX.
Which dismisses the Reader.

DAMON
AND
DELIA.
PART the FIRST.
CHAPTER I.
Containing introductory matter.
The races at Southampton have, for time immemorial, constituted a
scene of rivalship, war, and envy. All the passions incident to the
human frame have here assumed as true a scope, as in the more noisy
and more tragical contentions of statesmen and warriors. Here nature
has displayed her most hidden attractions, and art has furnished out the
artillery of beauty. Here the coquet has surprised, and the love-sick
nymph has sapped the heart of the unwary swain. The scene has been
equally sought by the bolder and more haughty, as by the timid sex.
Here the foxhunter has sought a new subject of his boast in the
nonchalance of dishabille; the peer has played off the dazzling charms

of a coronet and a star; and the petit maître has employed the anxious
niceties of dress.
Of all the beauties in this brilliant circle, she, who was incomparably
the most celebrated, was the graceful Delia. Her person, though not
absolutely tall, had an air of dignity. Her form was bewitching, and her
neck was alabaster. Her cheeks glowed with the lovely vermilion of
nature, her mouth was small and pouting, her lips were coral, and her
teeth whiter than the driven snow. Her forehead was bold, high, and
polished, her eyebrows were arched, and from beneath them her fine
blue eyes shone with intelligence, and sparkled with heedless gaiety.
Her hair was of the brightest auburn, it was in the greatest abundance,
and when, unfettered by the ligaments of fashion, it flowed about her
shoulders and her lovely neck, it presented the most ravishing object
that can possibly be imagined.
With all this beauty, it Cannot be supposed but that Delia was followed
by a train of admirers. The celebrated Mr. Prattle, for whom a thousand
fair ones cracked their fans and tore their caps, was one of the first to
enlist himself among her adorers. Squire Savage, the fox-hunter, who,
like Hippolitus of old, chased the wily fox and timid hare, and had
never yet acknowledged the empire of beauty, was subdued by the
artless sweetness of Delia. Nay, it has been reported, that the
incomparable lord Martin, a peer of ten thousand pounds a year, had
made advances to her father. It is true, his lordship was scarcely four
feet three inches in stature, his belly was prominent, one leg was half a
foot shorter, and one shoulder half a foot higher than the other. His
temper was as crooked as his shape; the sight of a happy human being
would give him the spleen; and no mortal man could long reside under
the same roof with him. But in spite of these trifling imperfections, it
has been confidently affirmed, that some of the haughtiest beauties of
Hampshire would have been proud of his alliance.
Thus assailed with all the temptations that human nature could furnish,
it might naturally be supposed, that Delia had long since resigned her
heart. But in this conjecture, however natural, the reader will find
himself mistaken. She seemed as coy as Daphne, and as cold as Diana.

She diverted herself indeed with the insignificant loquaciousness of Mr.
Prattle, and the aukward gallantry of the Squire; but she never
bestowed upon either a serious thought. And