The Romance of the Forest, interspersed with some pieces of poetry.Radcliffe, Ann Ward
General
The Romance of the Forest, interspersed with some pieces of poetry.
Radcliffe, Ann Ward
Gothic fiction
Farewell, said Adeline, who was affected by his distress--farewell! and
peace attend you. I will think of you with the affection of a
sister.--He sighed deeply and pressed her hand; when La Motte, winding
round another projection of the ruin, again appeared. Adeline left them
together, and withdrew to her chamber, oppressed by the scene. Louis's
passion and her esteem were too sincere not to inspire her with a strong
degree of pity for his unhappy attachment. She remained in her chamber
till he had quitted the abbey, unwilling to subject him or herself to
the pain of a formal parting.
As evening and the hour of appointment drew nigh, Adeline's impatience
increased; yet when the time arrived, her resolution failed, and she
faltered from her purpose. There was something of indelicacy and
dissimulation in an _appointed_ interview on her part, that shocked her.
She recollected the tenderness of Theodore's manner, and several little
circumstances which seemed to indicate that his heart was not
unconcerned in the event. Again she was inclined to doubt whether he had
not obtained her consent to this meeting upon some groundless suspicion;
and she almost determined not to go: yet it was possible Theodore's
assertion might be sincere, and her danger real; the chance of this made
her delicate scruples appear ridiculous; she wondered that she had for a
moment suffered them to weigh against so serious an interest, and
blaming herself for the delay they had occasioned, hastened to the place
of appointment.
The little path which led to this spot, was silent and solitary, and
when she reached the recess Theodore had not arrived. A transient pride
made her unwilling he should find that she was more punctual to his
appointment than himself; and she turned from the recess into a track
which wound among the trees to the right. Having walked some way without
seeing any person or hearing a footstep, she returned; but he was not
come, and she again left the place. A second time she came back, and
Theodore was still absent. Recollecting the time at which she had
quitted the abbey, she grew uneasy, and calculated that the hour
appointed was now much exceeded. She was offended and perplexed; but she
seated herself on the turf, and was resolved to wait the event. After
remaining here till the fall of twilight in fruitless expectation, her
pride became more alarmed; she feared that he had discovered something
of the partiality he had inspired; and believing that he now treated her
with purposed neglect, she quitted the place with disgust and
self-accusation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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