The Lady Isabel was the last
descendant of the family of D----; her father had fallen in battle;
his lady did not long survive him; and thus, at an early age, Isabel
became an orphan. Her mother's brother was appointed her guardian,
and, with his son Albert, came to reside at the Castle. The children,
thus insulated from the world, and educated entirely at home, saw
nothing so worthy to be loved as each other, and their attachment was
as romantic as the scenes around them. They both (but particularly
Isabel) delighted in the high chivalrous legends of antiquity--and
the tales of eternal constancy and self-devoted affection recorded
of some of the earlier heroines of her family, were read with sacred
veneration by the young enthusiast. In a mind of ordinary temperament,
little harm would have resulted from the indulgence of such a taste;
to the impassioned soul of Isabel it was destructive and fatal.
Deprived by death of the mother who might have taught her to restrain
and regulate her ardent feelings, they acquired by neglect additional
strength, and eventually concentrated into a passion deep and lasting
as her existence. As years passed on, so did her love increase; she
regarded Albert as the perfection of human excellence, and worshipped
him with all the full devotedness of her warm heart. It was not
so with Albert; he thought of his fair cousin with pride--with
tenderness; but it was only the calm affection of a brother: other
feelings than those of love possessed him--he languished for fame, for
honourable distinction among his fellow men, and at length left his
peaceful home, and the sweet companion of his youth, to fight the
battles of his country.
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