With this view I had removed her plumed bonnet.
It was the first time I had seen her without it; and so
deeply impressed was I by the angel-like character of
the extreme feminine beauty she, more than ever, then
exhibited, that I knelt in silent adoration for some
moments at her feet, my eyes and countenance alone
expressing the fervent and almost holy emotion of my
enraptured soul. Had she been a divinity, I could not
have worshipped her with a purer feeling. While I yet
knelt, I fancied I heard a sound behind me; and, turning
quickly, beheld the head of a man peering above a point
of rock at some little distance. He immediately, on
witnessing my action, sank again beneath it, but not in
sufficient time to prevent my almost assuring myself that
it was the face of your father I had beheld. My first
impulse was to bound forward, and satisfy myself who it
really was who seemed thus ever on the watch to intercept
my movements; but a second rapid reflection convinced
me, that, having been discovered, it was most likely the
intruder had already effected his retreat, and that any
attempt at pursuit might not only alarm your mother, but
compromise her safety.
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