From these grounds the
step is short to love. "When the mind is conquered, the heart
surrenders at discretion." But she knew not that she had advanced too
far to retreat, until the last scene at Dundas House, by forcing her
to defend Constantine against the charge of loving her, made her
confess to herself how much she wished the charge were true.
Poor and lowly as he seemed, she found that her whole heart and life
were wrapped in his remembrance; that his worshipped idea was her
solace; her most precious property the dear treasure of her secret
and sweetest felicity, It was the companion of her walks, the monitor
of her actions. Whenever she planned, whenever she executed, she
asked herself, how would Constantine consider this? and accordingly
did she approve or condemn her conduct, for she had heard enough from
Mrs. Robson to convince her that piety was the sure fountain of his
virtues.
When she had left London, and so far separated from this idol of her
memory, such was the impression he had stamped on her heart; he
seemed ever present. The shade of Laura visited the solitude of
Vaucluse; the image of Constantine haunted the walks of Somerset. The
loveliness of nature, its leafy groves and verdant meadows, its
blooming mornings and luxuriant sunsets, the romantic shadows of
twilight or the soft glories of the moon and stars, as they pressed
beauty and sentiment upon her heart, awoke it to the remembrance of
Constantine; she saw his image, she felt his soul, in every object.
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