"Lord Melvile had courage to persevere in advancing, though Dorignon's idea perpetually obtruded itself on his imagination; the charms of her form indeed were not such as justified his infatuation; she was, in respect to personal attractions, much below mediocrity; but her sprightly sallies, her scavoir vivre, her piquantes caprices; her unbounded, her libertine vivacity, unfettered by the chains of either politeness, decency, or good-nature; her dexterity in varying the scene from storm to sunshine, from rage to softness; in short, those wretched artifices to which beauty need not, and probity will not, descend, held him in a state of willing slavery, from which he scarce had firmness of mind enough to attempt getting released."
— Brooke [née Moore], Frances (bap. 1724, d. 1789)
The chaise drove on; Lord Melvile had courage to persevere in advancing, though Dorignon's idea perpetually obtruded itself on his imagination; the charms of her form indeed were not such as justified his infatuation; she was, in respect to personal attractions, much below mediocrity; but her sprightly sallies, her scavoir vivre, her piquantes caprices; her unbounded, her libertine vivacity, unfettered by the chains of either politeness, decency, or good-nature; her dexterity in varying the scene from storm to sunshine, from rage to softness; in short, those wretched artifices to which beauty need not, and probity will not, descend, held him in a state of willing slavery, from which he scarce had firmness of mind enough to attempt getting released.
(I.iv.9, pp. 191-2)
See The Excursion. In Two Volumes. By Mrs. Brooke (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1777). <Link to ECCO>
