He walked along the apartments with the stride
of exultation and triumph. He forgot the pathetic exclamations he had
lately uttered upon the impotence of power, and he was full of
congratulation in the possession of that which he had treated with
contempt. The moral lessons which it was his destiny to have from time
to time poured into an unwilling ear were erased for ever. He exclaimed
upon his own stupidity and want of invention, and he remembered not that
vehemence of passion, which had distracted his understanding, and drawn
a cloud over all his ideas. It was not instantly that he could assume a
sufficient degree of collectedness and composure to put into execution
the scheme with which he was so highly delighted. Presently however the
ebriety of unexpected hope dissipated, and he prepared for that scene
which was to be regarded as the summit of his power, and the irrevocable
crisis of his fate.
[Illustration]
BOOK THE FIFTH
THE GARDEN OF RODOGUNE DESCRIBED.--THE HOPES AND DANGER OF IMOGEN.--HER
INCONSOLABLE DISTRESS.
Imogen, immediately after the interview that had so deeply perplexed
her, returning to her apartment, had shut herself up in solitude. Her
reflections were gloomy and unpleasing; the new obscurity that hung
about them had not contributed to lighten their pressure.
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