And, then and
there, I threw myself hurriedly at the feet of Eleonora, and offered
up a vow, to herself and to Heaven, that I would never bind myself
in marriage to any daughter of Earth- that I would in no manner
prove recreant to her dear memory, or to the memory of the devout
affection with which she had blessed me. And I called the Mighty Ruler
of the Universe to witness the pious solemnity of my vow. And the
curse which I invoked of Him and of her, a saint in Helusion should
I prove traitorous to that promise, involved a penalty the exceeding
great horror of which will not permit me to make record of it here.
And the bright eyes of Eleonora grew brighter at my words; and she
sighed as if a deadly burthen had been taken from her breast; and
she trembled and very bitterly wept; but she made acceptance of the
vow, (for what was she but a child?) and it made easy to her the bed
of her death. And she said to me, not many days afterward,
tranquilly dying, that, because of what I had done for the comfort
of her spirit she would watch over me in that spirit when departed,
and, if so it were permitted her return to me visibly in the watches
of the night; but, if this thing were, indeed, beyond the power of the
souls in Paradise, that she would, at least, give me frequent
indications of her presence, sighing upon me in the evening winds,
or filling the air which I breathed with perfume from the censers of
the angels.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11