It is a venial and a harmless
indulgence. Do not then mortify friends that have sought to please you,
and refuse your attention to the assiduities we have demonstrated."
"No, my gentle shepherdess, it is in vain you plead. I would willingly
qualify my refusal; but I must withdraw. The more you press me, the
farther it is necessary for me to recede. In the morning of this very
day, I was simple, and incautious, and complying. But now I have
experienced so many wiles and escaped so many snares, that this heart,
formerly so gentle and susceptible, is cased in triple steel. I can shut
my eyes upon the most splendid attractions. I can turn a deaf ear to
enticements the most alluring, and sounds the most insinuating. This is
the lesson--I thank him for it--that your lord has taught me. You must
not then detain me. I must be permitted to retire." And saying this she
withdrew with trembling speed. In vain they insisted, in vain they
pursued. Imogen escaped like a bird from the fowler, nor looked behind.
Imogen was deaf to their expostulations, and indurate and callous as
adamant to their persuasions.
The disappointment of Roderic, when he learned of this miscarriage of
his great and final attempt was extreme. He coursed up and down the
saloon with all the impatience of a wild boar pierced by the spear of
the hunter, or a wolf from whom they have torn away her young.
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