# The Amorous Intrigues and Adventures of Aaron Burr/Chapter 4

CHAPTER IV.
The letter to Angelina.—The sick neighbor.—Pursuit of pleasure under difficulties.—Burr's ready wit and powers of invention.
When Burr retire to his chamber on that Sunday night, he could not help reflecting on the events of the day, and particularly upon his conduct towards Angelina. What must she think of his neglect to save her from imminent danger, from his desire to protect another? Had he not shown her plainly that he had forgotten her, and, worst of all, would she not suppose that he despised her for the bold step that she had taken, in conferring her partiality for a young man, which she felt before he had spoken to her.
"She shall not think that at any rate," said Burr, and before retiring to bed, he sat down, and wrote her a long letter.
He protested that, in the hurry and confusion of the moment, he had mistaken the young lady whom he had saved for Angelina, and that the former was an individual towards whom he was entirely indifferent, while for Angelina herself, he entertained the most fervent love, the most entire devotion.
"Without you," he added, "I shall be entirely miserable; without you, most beautiful of women, I live in a barren desert, joyless and desolate. Meet me, if you care for my happiness, for my life itself, on the very spot where I first encountered you. I promise to be prudent. Only let me hear again from your divine lips that I am not an object of indifference to you. I need not name the day, for I shall be there every day after three o'clock till you come."
Burr put this letter in the post-office, and waited four days for an answer, visiting the place of assignation every afternoon.
No answer came, and he waited in vain in the pleasant dell where they first met. In the mean time, his attempts on Miss Edwards were continued. She was deeply grateful for his noble conduct at the church, and called him the preserver of her life; but they were closely watched by Mrs. Reeve, and the time drew near when the fair visitor must return to New York.
Having been so cruly baffled in the affair of Angelina, Burr felt that he must expedite matters with Miss Edwards. It was too much to be disappointed in both instances.
​Fortune enabled him to procure a private interview when he least expected it. A neighbor was taken suddenly ill, and sent for Mrs. Reeve. That lady lost no time in answering the call, but the neighbor lived three miles off, and she should be absent two days.
Miss Edwards must not be left alone with Aaron at all that time. She, therefore, engaged the young lady to follow as soon as the chase could be got ready, and to spend the time with herself at the house of the sick neighbor. As for Mrs. Reeve, she accompanied the messenger in a vehicle that would only hold but two persons.
Aaron overheard this arrangement, though he was supposed to be out of the house. As soon as his sister was gone, he presented himself before Miss Edwards, and said:
"That old chase! What! ride in that broken-backed concern when the walking is so beautiful! I know that Miss Edwards is incapable of such folly. Come, get your hat and shawl; I will go with you. We will have a splendid walk."
"Agreed!" cried the gay girl, running for her "things," and putting them on.
They were soon on their way to to to the house of the sick lady.
"Yes, dearest Adele," cried Burr, as soon as they they they were clear of the house, "my feelings towards you have undergone no change. The more I feel your sweet presence, the more I am penetrated with your beauty and amiable, lovely nature."
"Oh, Mr. Burr! you have brought me out here to to to talk love—I know you have. Now, suppose that I should refuse to budge, till you promise to—to—be reasonable."
"Now, Adele, can you pronounce it irrational to love, and to love such a one as yourself? Oh! then I am indeed mad—stark, staring mad—for never was I so overwhelmed, so touched to the very centre of the heart, by feminine excellence and beauty."
This conversation was continued till they reached the spot where Burr encountered Angelina Dudley, and by that time, the fair listener had became deeply affected by the protestations of the man who had saved her life, and who she had, indeed, learned to admire. As yet however, Burr had suffered her to suppose that marriage was his only object: when they reached the "valley of love," as Burr called it, the latter paused, and while Miss Edwards leaned heavily on his arm, he pressed her to his heart, and kissed her lips. She did not resist, until he attempted a second embrace. She then said:
"There, Aaron, that will do for the present. We are alone, remember."
"Would that we could always be alone," cried he, passionately; "that we had a solitary island, where no human foot-step but our own ​could intrude; that I could see thee, only thee, light of my soul! most glorious, beautiful, and gentle one!"
In pronouncing these flattering words, Burr gradually pressed her closer and closer to him, and as she drunk in the welcome words, her resistance became feebler and feebler, till she became powerless, and dropped in his arms.
He laid her on the grass, and she sighed heavily. He hastened to tear open her bosom, and apply his lips to those ivory globes, whose fragrance fairly maddened him. He threw up her dress, and then she became suddenly aroused, as if a serpent stung her, and would have cast him off; but he was the stronger of the two. She tried to scream, but the sound died away in heavy sighs and choking sobs.
She smarted a moment, and gave a low shriek, but soon the most thrilling raptures entranced her.
She forgot all prudence, all shame, and only knew that she was wrapped in elysium, dissolving in a sweet flame of transport. She threw her plump limbs over him, strained him to her bosom, and both were alike eager in tasting all the bliss they could seize.
Just then a gentle step on the green sward might have been heard, had the lovers been less intent upon devouring each other with kisses and amorous struggles. A beautiful maid was on the spot; she heard sighs and tender words rapturously expressed. She came around the corner of a high bush, and beheld a scene that transfixed her to the spot. Burr turned his head, and Angelina Dudley stood before him!
She, poor girl, had but just received the letter written by Burr, and had hurried to the appointed place, only to find her "devoted lover" administering comfort and consulation to a rival beauty, with all the zeal and vigor of which he was capable.
Finding himself fairly detected, and that his duplicity must become manifest to both of the young ladies, Burr finished his business, and, starting up, said to Angelina:
"Come, my dear, now it's your turn! Lie right down!"
Angelina stood gazing at Burr and his companion, the latter being at last sensible of the presence of a third person.
Adele hastily adjusted her clothing, and regained her feet, but feeling that her reputation was compromised, she sank back upon the earth in a swoon.
"Was it for this that you sent for me?" said Angelina to Burr. "Oh! is it thus that you mock my too, too constant love?"
She covered her face with her hands, and wept.
"I mocked you not," said Burr; "but so long a time had elapsed since my letter was sent, that I despaired of hearing of you again. I supposed myself deserted for some happier man, and though I loved not ​this lady who lies before us on the ground, yet my thwarted love drove me mad, and as my pent up passions must have vent, I mearly merely used this girl, as one would use a common stroller, to cool my blood. Having utterly despaired of hearing again from you, what better could I do?"
Miss Dudley listened, and was glad to believe that Burr spoke the truth. She permitted him to toy with her bosom, until, overpowered by her feelings, she sank lifeless in his arms. In another moment she lay upon the ground, and he had forced the gate of love. He had driven away all impediments, and Angelina, in her turn, experienced those first raptures which so overcome the virgin heart of woman.
Burr found Miss Dudley far more warm and animated than Miss Edwards. He tasted the sweetest draught that he had ever known, while she swooned away with the agonies of untold bliss.
Just as this passionate couple reached the climax of enjoyment, and while they breathed fast and loud, Adele recovered from her swoon, and raising her head, saw Angelina struggling with bliss in the arms of Burr, until she fainted with the excess of pleasure.
Miss Edwards bounded to her feet, and as Burr regained his, she confronted him with staring eyes and pallid lips:
"How—how is this? What girl is that? Is it thus you prove your devotion—your constancy—"
"Hush, my dear!" cried Burr. "You now perceive that your reputation is safe. Yon fainting girl, who discovered us by sheer accident, would have made the whole country wring with the news, if I had not stopped her mouth by stooping her—other end. Now, you perceive that you have her reputation in your power, and you both stand on equal ground. She cannot tell of you, nor can you tell of her. I saw that there was no other way to insure secrecy, and, therefore, I had recourse to this method, though I can assure you that I have done it wholly on your account. I have thus saved your good name."
It is said that "there is no evil without its good;" and Miss Edwards felt that if her lover had been inconstant, he had certainly saved her good name. The awful fear of exposure which had caused her to faint was removed, and a dreadful weight was removed from her mind.
Angelina soon recovered her recollection, and Burr then whispered to her that he was obliged to accompany the other young lady to her place of abode, but begged her to call upon him on the next day, at the same place, when he would explain every thing.
Angelina sighed and retired behind the bushes to conceal her blushes, ​while Burr and Miss Edwards walked slowly forward. They had one mile farther to walk, through some fields and swampy places where there was much underwood.
Having made sure that Angelina had not followed them, Burr again pressed the bosom of Adele, and she soon yielded to his blandishments. He laid her upon a grassy hillock, and again unveiled her alabaster beauties. This time she made little resistance, even to the last act of love. She had tasted sweets that were too alluring to be rejected when offered to her, and now she quaffed the cup of bliss with a readiness and an earnestness of manner which bespoke both a warm and a vigorous constitution.
They then arranged their dress and hair, and pursued their walk till they reached the house of the sick lady, where they found Mrs. Reeve. That lady regarded them both with a scrutinizing glance, and although she made no remark, she had her private thoughts.