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180 him to whom compulsion, not inclination, gave my hand; but were it so, it is here excused by the necessity. I have been so much accustomed to proofs of your affection, that they make a part of my life, and when they cease, the other must infallibly be at an end: I believe it not impossible to contrive a meeting with you; if so, I charge you, do not fail to come. I am distracted till I see you, and receive that consolation in my misfortunes, which it is in your power to afford to the unhappy, but not inconstant .

"P. S. Write to me by the bearer, consider opportunines of this kind are now become scarce; and if you can think of any means to see me, more easy to be accomplished than I have yet been able to hit upon, communicate them to this faithful girl, who knows, as well as I, the restraint I labour under, not by the observance of a husband, but a jealous father."

I ought to blush, continued Anziana, in repeating to you the contents of this letter, which are indeed of such a nature, as might make the least censorious believe, I had a meaning in them very different from that virtue I profess; but I protest to you, with the same sincerity as I shall answer Heaven, that I was wholly free from any thought of ill; I longed indeed to see him; I passionately desired that he would continue to love me; and how far I might have been prevailed on by that desire and his entreaty, had I been permitted to indulge it in frequent conversations with him, I cannot, dare not to answer; but fate thought it sufficient to make me miserable without rendering me vicious also, and contented with the sacrifice I had made of my peace, suffered me not to resign my virtue.

He received my letter not with the transports of rage which I expected; and whatever discontents the news of my marriage had occasioned, they were more than