Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2) eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 342 pages of information about Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2).

Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2) eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 342 pages of information about Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2).
to?  What would be the fate of a woman if the rules of social propriety, permitting her to love, forbade that irresistible emotion which makes us fly to succour the object of our affection?  But I repeat to you, my lord, you need not be afraid that I have compromised myself by coming hither.  My age and my talents allow me, at Rome, the same liberty as a married woman.  I do not conceal from my friends that I am come to see you.  I know not whether they blame me for loving you; but that fact admitted, I am certain that they do not think me culpable in devoting myself entirely to you.”

On hearing these words, so natural and so sincere, Oswald experienced a confused medley of different feelings.  He was moved with the delicacy of Corinne’s answer; but he was almost vexed that his first impression was not just.  He could have wished that she had committed some great fault in the eyes of the world, in order that this very fault, imposing upon him the duty of marrying her, might terminate his indecision.  He was offended at this liberty of manners in Italy, which prolonged his anxiety by allowing him so much happiness, without annexing to it any condition.  He could have wished that honour had commanded what he desired, and these painful thoughts produced new and dangerous effects.  Corinne, notwithstanding the dreadful alarm she was in, lavished upon him the most soothing attentions.

Towards the evening, Oswald appeared more oppressed; and Corinne, on her knees by the side of his bed, supported his head in her arms, though she was herself racked with more internal pain than he.  This tender and affecting care made a gleam of pleasure visible through his sufferings.—­“Corinne,” said he to her, in a low voice, “read in this volume, which contains the thoughts of my father, his reflections on death.  Do not think,” he continued, seeing the terror of Corinne; “that I feel myself menaced with it.  But I am never ill without reading over these consoling reflections.  I then fancy that I hear them from his own mouth; besides, my love, I wish you to know what kind of man my father was; you will the better comprehend the cause of my grief, and of his empire over me, as well as all that I shall one day confide to you.”—­Corinne took this manuscript, which Oswald never parted from, and in a trembling voice read the following pages.

“Oh ye just, beloved of the Lord! you can speak of death without fear; for you it is only a change of habitation, and that which you quit is perhaps the least of all!  Oh numberless worlds, which in our sight fill the boundless region of space! unknown communities of God’s creatures; communities of His children, scattered throughout the firmament and ranged beneath its vaults, let our praises be joined to yours!  We are ignorant of your condition, whether you possess the first, second, or last share of the generosity of the Supreme Being; but in speaking of death or of life, of time past or of time to come,

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Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2) from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.