Bungay Castle: A Novel. v. 1/2Bonhote, Mrs. (Elizabeth)
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Bungay Castle: A Novel. v. 1/2
Bonhote, Mrs. (Elizabeth)
English fiction -- 18th century
The dress of Madeline, though to her particularly becoming, would
to thousands have been totally the reverse. It was the dress of the
order of Benedictines, to which she belonged, consisting of a black
robe, with a scapulary of the same. Under the robe, nuns, when
professed, wore a tunic of white undyed wool, and, when they went
to the choir, they had a cowl like that worn by the monks; but the
boarders, who were in what we may call a state of probation, were
allowed to wear a tunic of muslin or cambrick, and covered their heads
with a white veil. This dress, little suited to please the whimsical
taste of the present time, was, strange as it may appear, simple and
becoming, and proved the truth of the poet's observation, that
------Loveliness
Needs not the foreign aid of ornament,
But is, when unadorn'd, adorn'd the most.
Madeline, in the habit of her order, was so captivating a figure,
that no one ever thought any alteration or change in it could have
added a charm to those bestowed on her by the partial hand of
nature. She was tall, and elegantly formed; the expression of her
countenance, blended with softness and dignity, conveying an idea
of superior virtue being united to superior loveliness.
Just before dinner, the Doctor observed that Madeline looked pale:
having felt her pulse, he inquired what had given them cause to beat
so much out of time.
"I must examine into this matter, (said he archly.) They are gallopping
along at a strange rate; either the head or the heart must occasion
this revolution in the system of my patient's usual habit. If it be
the disease of the heart, I must resign my place to a more able
practitioner.--Do not blush, my fair nun, but tell me whom you would
have called in."
"I am perfectly satisfied with your advice, my good doctor, and at
this time believe I want a cook more than a physician, therefore
excuse me if I say you you entirely misunderstand my case."
"Don't be too positive (said De Clavering) of my ignorance. You may
safely trust me with all your complaints,--even with those of the
heart; for I feel myself extremely interested that you should not
return to the nunnery with any additional one added to those you so
unfortunately brought away."
"Ah! (said Madeline,) mentally, advice is now too late. I shall carry
back with me a more corroding, a more painful complaint than any I
ever knew before; yet, strange as it is, I would not be cured for
the world, as my being so would wound Edwin de Morney.
Only Camelford was present when this little badinage passed between
the Doctor and his patient. He advised the former to lay aside his
wig, and take up the cowl, as the most certain method of discovering
the truth; "for, though the laties, (he added,) will not tell all
they think to you or I, they will not attempt to teceive their Cot."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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