procures their Consent and afterwards courts and gets the Consent of Florisa for that was her Name The Match is concluded upon the day is appointed for all Parties to sign the Contract and yet see the power of Love guided by Inclination In the midst of these Preparations for so advantagious a Marriage he receives News which stops the execution which was a misfortune befallen Dorilas whom the loss of a Law-Suit had totally ruined and forced to renounce the possession of Celintha he feels in himself a hope spring up which he had before lost and this hope re-kind les his Flames Having known afterwards that Celintha was sick and that the beginning of her sickness was so violent that she was in danger of her life his tenderness towards her increases imagine then what was the disturbance of a mind agitated with so many motions at the same time On the one side the necessity of accomplishing a Marriage resolved upon the shame of seeing in danger the honour of his Word and Promises the indispensable obligations of Duty and Decency the interest of Reputation and Fortune and on the other side the Love he has for Celintha the pity he has of her Sickness the passion he has to succour her the impatience he has to see her again and the hopes of possessing her In this perplexity his first thoughts were to disengage his word he goes to the Parents of Florisa throws himself at their feet makes a sincere confession to them of the condition of his mind and protests to them that if notwitstanding the passion which he has for Celintha which he feels the return of with greater force than ever they esteemed him worthy of their Daughter nothing should hinder him from doing his duty and keeping to his promise Her Parents who would not endanger the quiet of their Daughter they loved so tenderly soon released Alcander from his word Alcander goes home with all the diligence which his age and his natural activity his love and his hope enabled him to do So soon as he was come thither he asked for Celintha and hears that she had been in great danger of her life by the malignity of that sort of disease which may be called the Scourge of Beauty since it sometimes dis-figures the finest Faces and does at least take away that which is called the flower of Beauty I mean the gloss and fineness of the Complexion which was the chief Beauty of Celintha This accident surprizes Aleander and far from abating his passion gives rise to a generous compassion which inflames and softens him the more He asks leave of Celintha to visit her She who yet saw no body and who waited tiil time had worn out those cruel impressions which her Sickness had left upon her Face does notwithstanding at last yield to the pressing desires of Alcander and to her own good nature She receives Alcander who cannot conceal his disorder at the first sight of Celintha although he had prepared himself against the surprize which the change of her Complexion had occasioned Celintha perceived it and both having paid the Civilities they owed each other after so long an absence Well then said Celintha you see how bad a recompence you have for the impatience which you had to see me you see how the Heavens take care to cure you of a passion which I have so little merited If that had been the intention of Heaven answered Alcander I should have been inspired with other thoughts towards you and should have had another heart Time absence nor the accidents of life and the inconstancy which is so natural to men are able to change and even to destroy the strongest passions but yet can have no operation upon mine I have received it with my life and it cannot be extinguished but by my death To answer you Alcander replied Celintha I have only to say the same things over again which you have said to me with this difference that although the passion which I have for Dorilas is not less violent than that which you have for me yet it is much more unfortunate for I loved Dorilas I had the consent of my Parents was beloved again by him and cruel Fortune hath thrown my Lover into so extream a poverty that although I might obtain him in this condition with the consent of my Friends yet I should never be able to gain his own consent If you love me enough to desire me without desert and without beauty Dorilas loves me too much to desire to possess me when I must go contrary to my duty and sacrifice my self to his bad Fortune but that which grieves me most is to see us all three involved in an inextricable misfortune You can never obtain what you love and if Fortune should do a miracle for the sake of Dorilas by restoring him wherewithal to obtain me from my Relations can I give my self to him and refuse at the same time so generous a Person as you are No no Alcander I cannot give my self to either I equally hate Treachery and Ingratitude Dorilas shall have my Love but you shall have my Esteem and Gratitude We must then said he yield to the severity of our Fates I must lose you and leave you as unfortunate as I am I shall never repent the having loved you and these excellent thoughts which at the same time declared to me both our misfortunes do but increase the esteem which I have for you I will obey this fatal power which having tyed me to you does now separate me from you for ever If my absence cannot cure me yet I shall have this advantage from an invincible inclination that it will guard me from all other engagements which though they may be more happy yet can never be so glorious as that inclination which engages me to the most lovely and most generous Person in the World After having spoken these words he leaves her and takes the most passionate Farewel that ever was known Celintha afflicted with the loss of that little Beauty which Nature had bestowed upon her for Dorilas his sad condition and for Alcander's sorrow was resolved to leave the Conversation of the World and to pass the rest of her days in a religious Retirement Alcander being able no more to pretend to Celintha seeing himself prest by his Parents and by the strong Reasons of Honour and Decency not to suffer so great a Name as his to be lost could not avoid hearkening to some Propositions of Marriage His Father being returned as imperious as he was would not notwithstanding impose upon his choice for he believed that his Son would at last master a passion that was without hope and being born with a great deal of courage he would do nothing which was unworthy of his Birth He saw great advantages in making a Match with Philismena but he was also very much disgusted with the selfish and difficult ways of proceeding which he observed in her Relations
that his Parents who were alarmed his Governor who was provoked at an absence of three or four hours had not the power to chide him they seemed more concerned at his grief than angry at his fault Alcander throws himself at the feet of his Parents and after having given them a sincere Relation of all that had pass'd protests openly to them that to provoke them no further he was resolved to break with Celintha and to apply himself solely to his duty He conjures them pouring out a flood of tears never to force him more to visit the ungrateful the unfaithful and cruel Celintha Olympia having setled his mind by her sweetness and reasons he lived for some time with much less disquiet than formerly and flattered himself in private with an appearance of quiet which made him believe he had forgotten Celintha and his Love for her But how is it possible always to stem a Torrent I mean an invincible Inclination it begins again to make it self be felt as violent as ever Alcander resists it with all the power he has he flyes the sight of Celintha but when chance offers her to his eyes he can restrain neither his Looks nor his Sighs which make their escape towards her he is surprized with thoughts which are all of Celintha when he would think of any thing else And forgetting already his trouble and resentment he enquires how she does if he hears Dorilas named he seems to be moved and to tremble and changes colour if he finds Dorilas amongst his Companions at Play he shews sufficiently by his cold reception or by his forced Courtesies the aversion he has for his Rival and even his whole behaviour towards him plainly shews the desire he has to quarrel with him in order to find a pretence of claiming that sort of coming to a right understanding which was commonly practised in those days out of a nice point of Honour which has cost France so much noble Blood But Dorilas who had a great deal of Love and Courage and who had also a great deal of Prudence excused his Rival as being a Youth and pardoned his mis-government imputing it to the excess of an unfortunate Passion All that Alcander did shewed but too much that the resolution which he had taken of not seeing Celintha any more was founded upon a false Cure and was supported only by the strength of his disdain And as this obstinate humour which he had made appear from his Infancy had changed into a strength of mind and firmness of courage he had made it a point of honour to himself to break for ever with Celintha and to resist the torrent which carried him away towards her This constraint which he put continually upon himself was so violent that it had like to cost him his Life he falls sick the Physicians are called who immediately think to cure the Disease without examining the Cause resolve but to no purpose upon a method of Cure for him according to the usual forms Olympia who never lost sight of her Son had observed that the absence of Celintha was the only cause of Alcander's sickness has recourse to the true Remedy She obtains a Visit to him from Celintha who loving only Dorilas and being of her self removed at some distance from him to avoid giving him the trouble which the sight of her had caused was brought with some difficulty to grant the request of Olympia but at last she yielded to the desires of an afflicted Mother to her natural goodness or it may be to the pleasure she took in insulting over the ignorance of the Physicians and to do that by her presence which the Physicians had not been able to effect by their Medicines Olympia prepares her Son for this Visit to prevent the dangers of a sudden surprize The bare hope of this sight restores strength to the Patient his eyes which before were almost out by a deep sorrow rekindled and sparkled with joy One of his Friends who sate near his Bed and who took notice of this sudden change out of an unseasonable joy mentioned it aloud which had like to have spoyl'd all for Alcander had some shame of his weakness and suffering himself to be transported with disdain that still remained was upon the point of refusing the visit from Celintha but being come again to himself by seeing in the sorrowful silence of his friend his repentance for his imprudence he received Celintha who came in a moment afterwards At her first approach Alcander was in so great a disorder he being somewhat ashamed to appear in this condition to the eyes of those who were about him but the more he endeavours to hide his Concern the more it breaks out those spirits which began to revive and restore his Countenance did retire back and leave it pale his Looks becoming fixt and full of astonishment Celintha who had pity on him made signs to those who were about his Bed to go out of the Room Alcander is affected with this goodness of Celintha it affords him some hopes and makes him put on a different air from that which he had before there returns immediately upon his Looks a certain sprightfulness of charming-sweetness and vivacity in his eyes and an agreeable smile spreads it self over his lips In short there appears throughout his whole Person that which may be called the effect of Joy and Hope he would have spoken to thank Celintha for the honour of her Visit but speech failed him as well as expressions Celintha who had for Alcander all that a Woman could have of most kind and favourable excepting her Love which was wholly engaged to Dorilas said to him the most obliging things and such as were most proper for the restoring him to his health But this motive of pity which made her speak so tenderly to him and whose language resembled so much that of Love was carried too far she began to fear that in going about to cure Alcander's Disease she should increase his Love by false hopes and this fear threw her into some disorder which was observed by Alcander and which made him immediately relapse into his jealous diffidence of her Thus all his pain returning again No no Celintha answered he with a feeble and languishing voice flatter no more a Wretch with your goodness which he does not deserve and which your own heart disowns Take less care of a Life which can serve only to disturb your quiet Heaven has caused me to be born for you but it has made you for Dorilas live for the sake of that happy Lover and suffer an unfortunate Wretch to die who is not allowed to live for you Alas dear Alcander replied Celintha I would not have you die I had rather There making a stop fearing to say too much or not to say enough being prest by her too great natural goodness and being too much moved by the deplorable condition of Alcander she was going without doubt to speak what
I thought fit to premise to give some Idea of the Genius of that Court and of the spirit of the Scene where the Adventure happened which I am going to relate Two Gentlemen of Quality united by an ancient Friendship and for a long time having espoused the Interest of the Royal Family of the Bourbons were desirous to find a new occasion of uniting their Families more firmly by the Marriage of their two Children whom Heaven seemed to have made for each other The one had a Son whose Name was Octavius and the other a Daughter called Henrietta Octavius was born with a Physiognomy which gave great Hopes and with too fine Features and Complexion for a Person of his Sex His Beauty increased with his Age without his having any of those Faults which commonly accompany Beauty in Men. He avoided with great care all that might make it be thought of him that he affected the looking handsom or that he flatter'd himself with being so But there appeared in him with his fineness of Feature a noble and charming Greatness and a meen of Quality Henrietta was born with an extraordinary Beauty and that which she had of singular was a kind of a tender and languishing Air which was equivalent to the most sparkling Vivacity This languishing way of hers was neither fearfulness nor weakness but an agreeable impression of the sweetness of her mind which manifested it self in her face and did not want a firmness and greatness of Courage which nothing was able to shake With this Equality of Birth Quality and Merit it was not difficult to form a perfect Intelligence between Octavius and Henrietta and such a one as their Parents would doubtless wish for one day to unite them by Marriage In order to prepare them for this Union Heaven had given to each for the other so violent an Inclination that no History can give a more singular and great Example of this sort of Love This was not all The Death of the Mother of Henrietta served very much to keep up and fortifie this happy Sympathy Her Father whom we shall here call Gaston which was his proper Name although he most commonly lived in the Countrey would not leave his Daughter there and so soon as he saw himself forc'd to follow the Court to manage all opportunities of serving his Party in a time when two powerful Factions were in a continual motion he carried her thither with her Governess and put her into the hands of Octavius his Mother Henrietta was now entring into her 8th year and Octavius was very near the same Age. So soon as they met there did not appear in their Faces that reserved and cold air which is commonly observed in Children at the first sight of Persons they do not know There was no need of the Governour and Governess taking care to teach them mutual civility a sudden motion a hasty attraction pushes them forwards towards one another they run to salute and to embrace each other like Friends who had been acquainted for a long time I need not tell you by how many sensible signs and by what a conformity of opinions thoughts and desires they made appear every moment the effects of this wonderful Sympathy they did so resemble in mind and in heart that the most exact Picture could less resemble its Original so that the World was apt to believe that that which was only the effect of a natural Inclination was rather that of a studied Imitation There was no difficulty in making them agree in their Pleasures and Diversions The first of them who named the Diversion was followed without hesitation by the other for when one shewed to have a mind to any thing there was always found in the other an implicit complyance There was not to be found between them those Jealousies which are usually seen between Children about the Presents Caresses or Praises which are given to them they put them off from one to the other with a becoming and sincere modesty when they vyed in their application to the Studies which were common to them both as History and Geography This emulâ—tion was nor the effect of the desire of the one to go beyond the other but of a violent desire of each to become the more amiable unto the other It may be easily judged by the things that I have now said what a trouble it was to them when the different imployments of a different Sex forced them to part and what trouble they underwent by suffering the shortest absence and by the impatience they had of seeing each other again So soon as they pass'd their Childhood Age had given to Henrietta more light to know her self and that that Inclination which was disguised under the mask of a bare Friendship made it self be felt as a dangerous Passion That Reason which she had supported by a becoming Bashfulness which usually accompanies the fair Sex made her apprehend the disorders which commonly follow the greatest Passions Although hers was allowed by her Parents yet she thought that she ought to retrench a little that great familiarity she had with her Lover and conform her self to the decency of an Age which required a more reserved and cautious Behaviour But all these Reflections were of very little effect against that Inclination which carried her away continually towards Octavius so that her Governess for this Reason was forced to make use of all the severity of her Lessons and her Authority and Octavius who owed a part of his time to the Exercises which his Age call'd him to was forced against his will to deprive himself of the pleasure which he had of seeing her at all hours They could comfort themselves sometimes with the joy which they had of seeing each other from time to time and by the certain hopes oâ— their Marriage which their Parents very earnestly wished for and only waited for a favourable opportunity to accomplish But observe to how many Changes their Fortune was exposed by the Tyes which it had with that of the State The Prince of Conde who was of an unquieâ— stirring humour and capable of under taking any thing in order to gratifie hiâ— revenge and to make himself still greateâ— having rendred himself suspected by thâ— height of his Fortune and by his Coâ—duct to have a share in all the Commotions which the Hugonots had stirred 〈◊〉 in the State and especially the Conspâ—racy of Amboys provoked Katherine de Mâ—diciâ— and the Princes of Lorrain so muâ—â— against him that they thought after mâ—ny uncertain and unsetled Deliberatioâ—… it was absolutely necessary to be rid of him to secure the King's Authority and the Constitution of the Government To effect so difficult and so dangerous a Matter many Artifices were made use of They resolved to hold a general Assembly of the three Estates and to draw the Princes of the Blood thither who were retired from Court There were very favourable Declarations publisht which lull'd asleep the