The shepherd took into his
hand the fatal bowl.
In the midst however of all that was attractive, and all that was
unknown, Edwin had not forgotten the business that had brought him
hither and the lessons of Madoc. The visage of Imogen, ever present to
his soul, suggested these salutary reflections. By her assistance he
strengthened all his resolutions, and gave vigour to the heroism of his
mind. Through the memory of Imogen he derived a body, and communicated a
visible form to the precepts of rectitude; and virtue wore all those
charms that had the most uncontroled empire in his bosom. Half way to
his lips he raised the cup of vice, and inexorable fate sat smiling on
the brim. He paused; he hesitated. By an irresistible impulse of
goodness he withdrew the fatal draught. He shed the noxious composition
upon the ground, and hurled from him with indignation the vessel in
which it had been contained.
Roderic beheld the scene with deep emotion, and was agitated by turns
with a thousand passions. He saw the issue with confusion, despondence
and fury. The roseat smiles of the cupbearer vanished; and, without the
notice and consent of his mind, his limbs resumed their wonted form, and
his features confirmed the suspicions of the shepherd, that he was now
confronted with his mortal enemy.
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