L'Abbé Prévost

“ I continued affectionately, "pray have some compassion on a son who has never failed in his love and respect for you; who has not bidden farewell, as you suppose, to honor or to duty; and who needs your pity far more than you imagine!"
The tears rose to my eyes as I concluded this appeal.
A father's heart is Nature's masterpiece. It is the realm, so to speak, over which she delights to rule, and its every impulse is under her own immediate ordering. Not only was Nature strong in my father, but he was a man of cultivated taste and intelligence ”

“ Surely, it cannot be that your blood, from which my own is drawn, has never flowed with a like fire! Love, and love alone, must answer for having made me too tender, too impassioned, too constant, and, perhaps, too compliant, where the wishes of my all-fascinating mistress were concerned. ”

“ It is the natural demeanor of a well-bred son towards a father for whom he entertains the deepest respect, especially when he is conscious of that father's displeasure. Nor have I any wish to hold myself up as the most virtuous of those who bear our name. ”

“ His malice has led him to paint her to you in the darkest of colors, and you have formed the most odious conception of her character. Yet never was there a sweeter, a more lovable being! Oh, why did it never please Heaven to inspire you with a wish to see her—if only for one moment? ”

“ During the few hours which had elapsed since my leaving there, he had been much distressed at not knowing where I was to be found; and had been anxious to see me as soon as possible in order to offer me the only suggestion which seemed to hold out any hope of averting Manon's fate. The plan he had to propose was fraught with great danger, and he begged me earnestly never to divulge the fact of his complicity in it. It was to hire a few picked bravos, with courage enough to make an attack upon Manon's guards as soon as they reached the outskirts of Paris with their prisoner. ”

“ Thanks to the scandal occasioned by your debaucheries and rascalities, I have discovered your place of abode. Talents such as yours have at least one advantage—they cannot long remain hidden under a bushel. ”

“ There was, after all, nothing absolutely dishonorable in my conduct as a whole—judging it, that is, by the standard set up by young men of rank and fashion; nor in our day is it regarded as a heinous offence to keep a mistress, any more than it is to resort to a little artifice in order to turn the fortunes of the gaming-table in one's own favor. ”