"
Not deeming it possible that it should be otherwise than favorable, De
Valence allowed his imagination to roam over every anticipated delight.
He exulted in the pride with which he would show this perfection of
northern beauty to the fair of England; how would the simple graces of
her seraphic form, which looked more like a being of air than of earth,
put to shame the labored beauties of the court? And then it was not
only the artless charms of a wood-nymph he would present to the
wondering throng, but a being whose majesty of soul proclaimed her high
descent and peerless virtues. How did he congratulate himself, in
contemplating this unsullied temple of virgin innocence, that he had
never, by even the vapor of one impassioned sigh, contaminated her pure
ear, or broken the magic spell, which seemed fated to crown him with
happiness unknown, with honor unexampled! To be so blessed, so
distinguished, so envied, was to him a dream of triumph, that wafted
away all remembrance of his late defeat; and he believed, in taking
Helen from Scotland, he should bear away a richer prize than any he
could leave behind.
Full of these anticipations, he attended the Governor of Stirling the
next day, to hear his daughter's answer.
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