' From
this solemn reference to Heaven, ALMEIDA derived new fortitude: she
instantly recollected, that she stood in the presence of Him, by whose
permission only every other power, whether visible or invisible, can
dispense evil or good: 'Urge no more,' said she, 'as the decree of
Heaven, that which is inconsistent with Divine perfection. Can He in
whose hand my heart is, command me to wed the man whom he has not
enabled me to love? Can the Pure, the Just, the Merciful, have ordained
that I should suffer embraces which I loath, and violate vows which His
laws permitted me to make? Can He have ordained a perfidious, a
loveless, and a joyless prostitution? What if a thousand prodigies
should concur to enforce it a thousand times, the deed itself would be a
stronger proof that those prodigies were the works of darkness, than
those prodigies that the deed was commanded by the Father of light.'
ALMORAN, whose hopes were now blasted to the root, who perceived that
the virtue of ALMEIDA could neither be deceived nor overborne; that she
at once contemned his power, and abhorred his love; gave way to all the
furies of his mind, which now slumbered no more: his countenance
expressed at once anger, indignation, and despair; his gesture became
furious, and his voice was lost in menaces and execrations.
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