"
Nekayah thought this a reasonable demand, and made the promise to her
brother, who had been advised, by Imlac, to require it. Imlac had,
indeed, no great hope of regaining Pekuah, but he supposed, that, if he
could secure the interval of a year, the princess would be then in no
danger of a cloister.
CHAP. XXXVI.
PEKUAH IS STILL REMEMBERED. THE PROGRESS OF SORROW.
Nekayah, seeing that nothing was omitted for the recovery of her
favourite, and having, by her promise, set her intention of retirement
at a distance, began, imperceptibly, to return to common cares, and
common pleasures. She rejoiced, without her own consent, at the
suspension of her sorrows, and sometimes caught herself, with
indignation, in the act of turning away her mind from the remembrance of
her, whom yet she resolved never to forget.
She then appointed a certain hour of the day for meditation on the
merits and fondness of Pekuah, and, for some weeks, retired constantly,
at the time fixed, and returned with her eyes swollen, and her
countenance clouded. By degrees, she grew less scrupulous, and suffered
any important and pressing avocation to delay the tribute of daily
tears. She then yielded to less occasions; sometimes forgot what she
was, indeed, afraid to remember, and, at last, wholly released herself
from the duty of periodical affliction.
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