flatter myself too much, the beautified image, of her secret dreams was led into her arms by her own father, to cherish it as a brother. But who can force the human heart not to overstep the limits prescribed by parental authority?
The father did not understand his daughter completely. He imagined that she did not answer his wishes, and his tenderness for me, as much as he had expected. "How!" said he, "does Adelheid thus coldly receive the friends of her father, and her second brother?" Her looks could, however, have made him sensible of his mistake; they intreated for indulgence, and at the same time made the sweetest confession. He smiled benevolently at her confusion; and encircling his daughter with his arm, pressed her to my bosom, requesting me to embrace my sister. Her cheeks burned, and my lips quivered. This was all that I was able to observe.
I now
