At length one of them slipped out, and hastened to acquaint
Roderic with the impatience of his prize, and to communicate to him the
substance of those artless hints, which, in the hands of so skilful and
potent an impostor, might be of the greatest service. Roderic
immediately rose. But as he was desirous to decorate his person with the
nicest skill, in order to make the most favourable impression upon his
mistress, he ordered the attendant, with some of her companions, to wait
upon Imogen. He commissioned them, if it were necessary, to inform her
of the absolute impossibility of her quitting the castle, and to
persuade her to walk in the meadows adjoining, that she might observe
the riches of their possessor; how fertile were the soil, and how fair
and numerous the flocks.
The patience of Imogen, in the mean time, was nearly exhausted. Her
simplicity could no longer be duped. Though unused to art, it was
impossible for her not at length to perceive the art by which the
conversation was lengthened, and her ardent desire to set out for the
cottage of her father, eluded. She was just beginning to expostulate
upon this ungenerous stratagem, when three or four of those females,
whom Roderic had dispatched entered the apartment.
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