ABSTRACT
The remembrance of Strathallan, which prudence had long condemned, duty now joined to forbid; and it was Matilda’s new and painful task, to eradicate it as much as possible from her bosom. She experienced, for the first time, what charms are attached to the indulgence of a cherished passion, even though nourished almost without hope; and how much more difficult it is to banish from the heart an attachment encouraged so long, than even to deprive it of its food in the sight of the object beloved. Many a soft dream of bliss, many a tender and unreproved contemplation, had in former days plunged her soul into a pleasing, and luxurious melancholy, and beguiled the real severity of her fate. But these must be now resigned, as affording a dangerous and no longer innocent relief; and in the bitterness of this total resignation, she felt that none can be called completely wretched, but those who are forbid to love. She in part succeeded in obtaining an outward calmness; but the less her mind appeared to sink, the more visibly her health declined.
