Letitia Elizabeth Landon

“ Not so Douglas, who was still elated by the persuasion that he had succeeded in kindling within Rosilia the first dawnings of affection. Nor was he wrong in his conjecture; though Rosilia had been warned of his errors, and trembled at the thought of a connection with this too dangerous man, her heart had involuntarily surrendered.
In the full blaze and prime of life was Douglas,
"Even in the heyday of impetuous youth!
. . . . . . . . . the blaze of gaudy years—"
possessing every personal recommendation, every brilliant qualification to allure and captivate. ”

“ If the manners of Oriana were eminently attractive, if found to be the most accomplished, Rosilia bore from her the palm of beauty. If, of a quick and clear intellect, Oriana, as if from intuitive knowledge, seized upon and comprehended a subject,—Rosilia, given to reflection, thought and contemplation, possessed a judgment less liable to err, more interiorly cultivated and refined. If less dazzling in conversation than her sister, she interested more. If Oriana charmed by her vivacity and sparkled by her wit, Rosilia touched and penetrated the heart by the sweet serenity of her deportment. ”

“ All other earthly charms or flattering allurements he might resist, but how could he stem the tide of those self-approving, virtuous feelings which knit his destiny to that of the beloved Oriana! As the voyager securely sinks to rest, whilst the vessel bearing him calmly floats upon the unruffled surface of the deep, and dreams not of the tempest that may suddenly expose him to the fury of the elements, so Philimore, reposing on the bliss of the moment, yielded himself a willing captive to the fervour of love, whilst every thought of care or anxiety for the future was banished from his breast. ”

“ Rosilia De Brooke unites the most opposite qualities; she is retired, even to diffidence, but, at the same time, possesses the warmest candour; she has the most over-flowing sensibility I ever witnessed; yet, in point of virtue, she has the greatest self-possession, and the most perfect dignity of mind,—strength and energy of thought and action; of conduct, an unsuspecting innocence, with an understanding cultivated to the last degree; refined and chaste, as manifested in every expression of her countenance, and in every word that falls from her lips. ”

“ Time, the sovereign softener of human sorrow, had, in its flight, in some degree freed and disengaged Douglas from that intolerable load of affliction and despondency he had formerly endured; yet with a heart desolated, blighted of its cherished hopes and fairest prospects, how, with a memory faithful to an object he could never behold again, every sense throbbing with the painful though pleasing retrospection of departed bliss, and every tie that might have rendered life attractive, and strewed his path with flowers—how could he resolve to link his future destiny to another? ”

“ Raising the hand of that generous man, Philimore strained it to his bosom.
"Even life," said he, "passed with Oriana here below, would have no longer charms for me. My soul has made its choice, and nothing, no temptation however great, could have power to change it. To return to earth after having experienced a foretaste of Heaven!—impossible! Who would return a willing captive to his prison-house, his tenement of clay, when life and immortality shine upon the ravished view? ”

“ Why do you seek and wish for death? live, oh! live, my young friend, to bless, and to be blest by her. Had you made me your confidant sooner, you, together with the partner of your affections, should have shared my fortunes; my incomparable young friend, my son, my adopted son, with pride of heart I acknowledge it, since the demise of my father, who bequeathed to me so largely, I mentioned you in my will."
Overwhelmed with grateful affection, Philimore raised himself on his bed of languishing, and looking steadfastly at the Doctor, would have poured forth the effusions of his heart. ”

“ The appearance of Douglas was greatly altered; that animating brilliancy which, as a playful meteor, had before invested him, was no longer visible; his eyes no longer sparkled with the ostentatious beams of pride and vanity. Nevertheless, his countenance was illumined, was strongly marked; a deep reflection,—a composure, like that which springs from calm of conscience, bespoke a mind at last subdued and at rest with itself, after having been long subjected to the influence of irregular feeling, and tossed by tumultuous passions. ”

“ How different were the feelings which swayed her in the case of Melliphant. Never had he for one moment excited in her sentiments of higher interest, of softer tendency, of nearer association, than the mere tacit consent of her reason to his claims upon her esteem; an approbation of his merits, so modestly, yet conspicuously displayed, so extolled by those around, was all she could bestow. The distress of mind, the secret sorrow, he seemed labouring under, made visible by a pensiveness of manner, sudden emotion, and half suppressed sighs, awakened in Rosilia but a tender commiseration. ”

“ Perfectly aware of Harcourt's motives in going thither, Douglas spoke but little, absorbed in silent reverie upon that fate which seemed ever, as concerning Rosilia, to oppose his passion and to separate him from her. Scarcely had the only true attachment of which he had ever felt susceptible, and which if subdued for a time had never become extinguished, rekindled in his soul its pure and holy fires, than it was again to meet with repression. ”

“ De Brooke exerted that fortitude, that noble energy of soul so peculiarly her own; it was upon such great and trying occasions that she manifested the superior usefulness of a religious education. The father's precepts, the mother's example, as impressed upon her heart and mind, gave sublimity and energy to her thoughts more than human, diffusing a holy trust in Providence over her affections, and beaming in heavenly lustre from eyes destined to behold scenes of the most touching, awful, and heart-rending description, connected and interwoven with the tenderest sympathies of her existence! ”

“ Rosilia, on the contrary, loved to image to herself the immortal soul, not as in its perishable tenement of clay, the mere mortal covering which at death is consigned to its kindred dust; but the soul, or spirit, such as it is when it has burst those fetters that confined it here, and thus emancipated, soars beyond its terrestrial boundaries into spheres of supreme bliss, an element congenial with its immaterial nature, its spiritual state of being. ”

“ Sir Howard in the pursuit of Rosilia had been encouraged equally by her genuine sensibility and unaffected innocence, as by her alluring beauty. But when in removing the veil, which before only imperfectly concealed him, he disclosed his real character; her dignity, her purity rose so full upon his view, as deeply to penetrate him with the idea, that by the mere force of her virtue alone, she would be enabled to defend herself against the attacks of the most abandoned libertine in existence! ”

“ To the voluptuary or refined sensualist Oriana, fortunately for herself, having within her the germ of coquetry, was far from interesting,—appearing as a plant whose leaves were too expanded, conveying not that charm, as the unblown bud, as was imaged in Rosilia, upon which imagination might stray exhaustless, in picturing to itself its sweet unfoldings, its fragrance opening imperceptibly, as by successive developments, inhaled by none—save him who knew to estimate its value, and had dearly won it. ”

“ Arden rose to receive him; De Brooke did the same, and coming towards his daughter, led her by the hand to introduce her to Sir Aubrey—to him who had so often dwelt upon Rosilia's juvenile fancy, invested with all the splendour of greatness, the concomitant of martial talent, judgment, and wisdom.
Sir Aubrey was arrayed in a frock uniform, bearing the insignia of knighthood; though aged, yet free from infirmity; his majestic stature contrasting itself with the light and airy form of the young Rosilia, his grandchild, whom, with a condescending aspect, taking by the hand, he bent to salute. ”

“ So deep was that veil thrown over Melliphant by his habitual vices, that had Rosilia possessed the power of removing even its slightest windings, by which she might have gained some insight into his thoughts, views, and purposes, divested of every false coloring, she would have shrunk with horror at the appalling discovery—an exhibition of his internal deformity. That hideous sight, the unveiled human heart, would have presented a spectacle to her pure mind which would have chilled the vital current in her veins. ”

“ It was true he was then before her, breathing nought but love, pouring into her ear the effusions of a soul that seemed to live but for her: and yet, hesitating, her heart palpitating with emotion, nearly unconscious of what she said, she frequently repeated, "You will forget me! absence will cause you to forget me!"
"Forget you!" he replied, in tones impassioned; "you may as easily believe that the operations of nature will be suspended, as to imagine that I shall ever cease to love you! ”

“ The high and affluent circumstances to which he has raised himself, it grieves me to say, closes his mind to all but worldly prejudices and selfish affections. Sad perversion of the human heart! Who would wish for fame and fortune, if they thus extinguish the best and finest feelings of humanity?"
With a mournful countenance Angelina had attentively listened to her husband. "It is I," thought she, "who am the cause of estranging him from his father." A heavy sigh escaped her, whilst tears, precious to De Brooke, in all their liquid lustre, fell from her beamy eyes. ”

“ His watch, that telltale of time, counted the hours as they fled. Mrs. De Brooke essayed to chase the mists of disquietude gathering around his brow. Every sudden motion of his frame bespoke the nervous agitation of his system.
She longed to break silence, to administer a balm to his feelings, but the moment was not yet at hand. She had a plan, but she wished to suspend its divulgement until the return of Robert, to whose sagacity and circumspection she looked for its accomplishment. In anxious expectation, the minutes, too rapid for De Brooke, crept on but slowly with her. ”

“ How widely was he deceived in respect to Philimore as well as Oriana, who, living but in the consciousness of being beloved, suffered the voice of duty and of prudence to slumber, falsely seeking to exculpate herself with the notion that, guided by Philimore, she could not err! If he who ever walked in the path religion prescribed, whose whole life had been but one system of virtue, if he could reconcile and recommend to her the practice of secrecy, why should she hesitate? why cause him to mistrust her affections by opposing his wishes? ”

“ Oriana deeply acknowledged their sway; and Rosilia, oh! how often had she wished in secret that Douglas, to his more polished, fascinating, and brilliant manners and mien, had united the blameless life of Philimore, and in sentiment, truth, and morals resembled him! Freely then could she have admitted his suit, and have avowed without blushing that partiality with which he had so fervently sought to inspire her; that partiality even then existing, having outlived the hopes which had formerly given it strength—though deprecating her weakness, yet unable to subdue it. ”

“ But having conquered and subdued all relish for the things of this world, it is now only to my Creator that I can indissolubly attach myself; all other loves having become subordinate, or such as spring from the centre and origin of their existence. Oriana viewed in this light is still dear to me, intensely so; but I love her as I ought to do, with the utmost purity of thought, involving in it nought of earth or self, wholly independent of which, it is her happiness, her immortal happiness only that fills my soul. ”

“ Rosilia, in affright, again precipitately rising, approached to ring the bell for the servant of Mrs. Belmour, but he seized her trembling hand in time to prevent her design.
"Cruel girl!" exclaimed he, his eyes flashing fire, and drawing a pistol from his bosom; "to what extremity do you drive me! Tremble for the consequences," added he, in accents scarcely human; "you drive me to madness; and I am no longer master of my actions! Promise to be mine,—mine only,—my wife! or this moment shall terminate my existence; my corse will lie bleeding at your feet! Promise! ”