Besides this, Gabrielle's
celestial beauty made him fearful of attempts too common in times of
violence and sedition. Many reasons had thus induced the good father
to deepen the shadows and increase the solitude that surrounded his
daughter, whose excessive sensibility alarmed him; a passion, an
assault, a shock of any kind might wound her mortally. Though she
seldom deserved blame, a mere word of reproach overcame her; she kept
it in the depths of her heart, where it fostered a meditative
melancholy; she would turn away weeping, and wept long.
Thus the moral education of the young girl required no less care than
her physical education. The old physician had been compelled to cease
telling stories, such as all children love, to his daughter; the
impressions she received were too vivid. Wise through long practice,
he endeavored to develop her body in order to deaden the blows which a
soul so powerful gave to it. Gabrielle was all of life and love to her
father, his only heir, and never had he hesitated to procure for her
such things as might produce the results he aimed for.
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