Page:Clermont - Roche (1798, volume 2).djvu/124

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dared not think her friend, yet could not call her enemy; the idea of his being now exposed upon the cheerless heights she viewed, to the inclement blast, wrung her heart with agony; she tried, however, to repel it, by reflecting that it would, by enervating, render her unable to pay the attentions she wished to her benefactress; and also, that to think voluntarily of him, was acting contrary to the solemn resolution she had formed, to try and forget him. She continued out till the wind grew so violent that it quite chilled and fatigued her; as she returned to the chateau she saw on every side a blackening train of clamorous rooks seeking their accustomed shelter among the tall trees surrounding it, while, assiduous in his bower, the owl plied his sad song, and the water-fowl, wheeling from their nests upon the lake, screamed along the land.


Madeline slowly ascended the stairs, and repairing to the dressing-room, found Agatha and Floretta there; she eagerly en-