Page:Horrid Mysteries Volume 3.djvu/109

 senses were, for the first time, inebriated, on her bosom, with every rapture love is capable to afford; nor was my blood heated to a similar degree in Rosalia's arms, who had taught me to empty the cup of intoxicating sensuality to the last drop. Maturer age also had contributed to cool the heat of passions; and Elmira's modest meekness, the dear cares of a tranquil domesticated life, unruffled by sorrow, and flowing in a soft and gentle stream, had blunted the edge of my desires. What could, therefore, have deprived me of my senses in that moment; what could have rendered me so callous against the admonitions of a just and friendly heart; what could have been the reason of the vehement tempest that agitated my whole nature?

While I was occupied with these and similar reflections, which succeeded each other with an incomprehensible impetuosity, the idea of my singular fatalities in Spain forced itself upon my soul. Don