Page:The Monk, A Romance - Lewis (1796, 1st ed., Volume 1).djvu/173

 intention, and yet strove not to make her change it?"

"Marquis, you wrong me: the intelligence which I received at Naples shocked me extremely, and I hastened my return to Madrid for the express purpose of preventing the sacrifice. The moment that I arrived, I flew to the convent of St. Clare, in which Agnes had chosen to perform her noviciate. I requested to see my sister. Conceive my surprise, when she sent me a refusal: she declared positively that, apprehending my influence over her mind, she would not trust herself in my society, 'till the day before that on which she was to receive the veil. I supplicated the nuns; I insisted upon seeing Agnes; and hesitated not to avow my suspicions, that her being kept from me was against her own inclinations. To free herself from the imputation of violence, the prioress brought me a few lines, written in my sister's well-known hand, repeating the message already delivered. All future attempts to obtain a mo-