صفحة 415 من 483

There were no horses to be procured, and I must return by the

lake; but the wind was unfavourable, and the rain fell in

torrents. However, it was hardly morning, and I might reasonably

hope to arrive by night. I hired men to row and took an oar

myself, for I had always experienced relief from mental torment

in bodily exercise. But the overflowing misery I now felt, and

the excess of agitation that I endured rendered me incapable of

any exertion. I threw down the oar, and leaning my head upon my

hands, gave way to every gloomy idea that arose. If I looked up,

I saw scenes which were familiar to me in my happier time and

which I had contemplated but the day before in the company of her

who was now but a shadow and a recollection. Tears streamed from

my eyes. The rain had ceased for a moment, and I saw the fish

play in the waters as they had done a few hours before; they had

then been observed by Elizabeth. Nothing is so painful to the

human mind as a great and sudden change.