It was long, before Elizabeth acquired sufficient firmness to receive the personal thanks of Ida and Henry for that felicity, of which she was herself the authoress; but on the day when she was consecrated as Domina of Zurich, this long-delayed interview took place. The impression, which it made upon her mind, will be best explained by the following letter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _Elizabeth to Constantia._ At length then this dreaded interview is over: I have seen Ida and her happy husband.—Wrong me not, Constantia, by suspecting, that resentment or pique has made me delay this meeting for so long; oh! no! it was the consciousness of my own weak heart!—Even Helen of Homburg could not at once resolve to witness the happiness of Eginhart and Amalberga; and alas! I am no faultless Saint like Helen!—the Cloister is the palace of enthusiasm, is the native land of visions; its inhabitants are only happy in proportion, as those visions are sweet and soothing. I had formed for myself a little circle of ideal companions, whom at my pleasure I could summon to dispel my solitude. My venerable friend, by the side of whose death-bed I formed the resolution of dedicating my life to the service of Heaven, was among the dearest of those apparitions. The hand of mortality had torn her from me; Enthusiasm restored her to my arms. I saw her, as if she had been still alive.... I spoke to her, and laid open the most secret folds of my heart.... I almost fancied, that at times I heard her reply in words of comfort.... Alas! the fatal sight of Ida and her Henry has dispelled all these visions, which were to me the source of so much happiness! it seemed like a flash of lightning, which penetrates through our closed eye-lids, and wakes us suddenly from some delightful dream.—Now nothing flits before me in my solitude, but those scenes of my melancholy life, in which Ida and Montfort bore so great a share.—Leave me, oh! leave me, ye cruel thoughts, which force me back to a world of sorrow; and thou, mild-spirit of my sainted friend, return, and by thy presence aid me to prepare for that state of bliss, which _you_ already enjoy, and to which I feel that _I_ am hastening. The will of Heaven be done; but the moment of dissolution will be sweet and welcome! THE END. ------------------------------------ Printed by D. N. SHURY, Berwick-street, Soho. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ● Transcriber’s Notes: ○ Errata listed in this volume have been applied to all volumes. ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected. ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book. ○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).