Page:The genius - Carl Grosse tr Joseph Trapp 1796.djvu/364

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

who was uncommonly fond of me, believed all my assertions, promised to visit his daughter at Seville, and to keep up a diligent correspondence with her. He however bitterly complained, that she should have preferred a cloister to the paternal mansion. This deeply moved me; the reasons which I assigned for her retreat were, an inward debility, and an indisposition which nothing but loneliness could possibly cure.

Having finally settled the management of my affairs, I prepared to visit my friend Selami, who had by this time sent me an invitation to his seat near Toledo. My father-in-law had informed me, that the count left France very suddenly, because his proud spirit could not bear the mortification, which the revolution forced every privileged order to endure.

I was determined to surprise the count, by not letting him know of my coming. When I reached the terrace of his garden, the first object which struck my eyes was a tender child fitting on the green turf, playing with a large greyhound. The animal being one of