"Ah! they have heaven in view! I cry the reverend Augustine's pardon--but,
lady, the difference is in the length of the calculation. Woe's me,
brethren; I would that my parents had educated me for a bishop, or a
viceroy, or some other modest employment, that this learned craft of mine
might have fallen into better hands! Ye would lose in instruction, but I
should be removed from the giddy heights of ambition, and die at last with
some hopes of being a saint. Fair lady, thou travellest on a bootless
errand, if I know the reason that tempts thee to cross the Alps at this
late season of the year."
This sudden address caused both Adelheid and her father to start, for, in
despite of pride and the force of reason, it is seldom that we can
completely redeem our opinions from the shackles of superstition, and that
dread of the unseen future which appears to have been entailed upon our
nature, as a ceaseless monitor of the eternal state of being to which all
are hastening, with steps so noiseless and yet so sure. The countenance of
the maiden changed, and she turned a quick, involuntary glance at her
anxious parent, as if to note the effect of this rude announcement on him
before she answered.
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