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Article THE COUNTESS AND THE SERF* ← Page 4 of 23 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Countess And The Serf*
thoughts from their own feelings . Then- world was in their heart ; nor was it long ere each became conscious that she had peopled it exclusively with one image . The conviction nevertheless grew slowly , ancl produced a totally dissimilar effect upon them . The Countess Anna , at once the darling ancl the heiress of her wealthy ancl noble fatherivas impetuousreckless
, , , ancl irritable under opposition , while Zamoiski had unconsciously fostered rather than checked these qualities so dangerous to the happiness of her sex ; joyous in her joy , he had never found courage to contradict her will ivhere he foresaw that his contradiction would entail suffering on his darling ; to have brought tears to her briht would have his own heartand
geyes wrung ; it is consequently scarcely wonderful that the young countess saw herself surrounded by submission . Her will was law throughout the castle ; ancl even her brother and her cousin never suffered their own inclinations or wishes to interfere with her expressed or implied pleasure . This tacit and universal obedience to her caprices had grown with her growth ; ancl she
was so habituated to it that it passed unobserved , and consequently unfelt by the spoiled child of fortune , to whose character it meanwhile imparted a dangerous self-reliance ancl self-value , ivhich destroyed much of that beautiful softness ancl sympathy of feeling that are among the most graceful attributes of woman . None , however , felt the want of these ; for in the life of
retirement ancl luxury which the latent regrets and the splendid habits of Zamoiski had led him to adopt , it was so easy ancl so natural to bow before the laughing tyranny of the bright creature ivhose glad voice and beaming countenance ivere music and sunshine to all with whom she came into contact , that her charm was universally acknowledged , and her claim never contested .
A word of expostulation , had that word been uttered in time ¦ —an earnest warning , had that warning been breathed by one whom she loved—might have changed the Avhole cm-rent of her destiny ; but unhappily for the young countess that word Avas never uttered , that warning was never given ; ancl thus she lived on , unaware of the depth of the precipice upon whose brink she stood .
Perhaps no more striking contrast could be found than that which existed between the two cousins . The daughter of Zamoiski had never known another mother than her nurse , ancl no single regret bound her to the past : while Eudoxia was in very truth the child of sorrow . An orphan ei r en in her childhood , she could yet remember the tear-dimmed eyes of her last parent , and the heavy mourning garments in whicli she had been attired Avhen the gentle face and the fond smile were hidden
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Countess And The Serf*
thoughts from their own feelings . Then- world was in their heart ; nor was it long ere each became conscious that she had peopled it exclusively with one image . The conviction nevertheless grew slowly , ancl produced a totally dissimilar effect upon them . The Countess Anna , at once the darling ancl the heiress of her wealthy ancl noble fatherivas impetuousreckless
, , , ancl irritable under opposition , while Zamoiski had unconsciously fostered rather than checked these qualities so dangerous to the happiness of her sex ; joyous in her joy , he had never found courage to contradict her will ivhere he foresaw that his contradiction would entail suffering on his darling ; to have brought tears to her briht would have his own heartand
geyes wrung ; it is consequently scarcely wonderful that the young countess saw herself surrounded by submission . Her will was law throughout the castle ; ancl even her brother and her cousin never suffered their own inclinations or wishes to interfere with her expressed or implied pleasure . This tacit and universal obedience to her caprices had grown with her growth ; ancl she
was so habituated to it that it passed unobserved , and consequently unfelt by the spoiled child of fortune , to whose character it meanwhile imparted a dangerous self-reliance ancl self-value , ivhich destroyed much of that beautiful softness ancl sympathy of feeling that are among the most graceful attributes of woman . None , however , felt the want of these ; for in the life of
retirement ancl luxury which the latent regrets and the splendid habits of Zamoiski had led him to adopt , it was so easy ancl so natural to bow before the laughing tyranny of the bright creature ivhose glad voice and beaming countenance ivere music and sunshine to all with whom she came into contact , that her charm was universally acknowledged , and her claim never contested .
A word of expostulation , had that word been uttered in time ¦ —an earnest warning , had that warning been breathed by one whom she loved—might have changed the Avhole cm-rent of her destiny ; but unhappily for the young countess that word Avas never uttered , that warning was never given ; ancl thus she lived on , unaware of the depth of the precipice upon whose brink she stood .
Perhaps no more striking contrast could be found than that which existed between the two cousins . The daughter of Zamoiski had never known another mother than her nurse , ancl no single regret bound her to the past : while Eudoxia was in very truth the child of sorrow . An orphan ei r en in her childhood , she could yet remember the tear-dimmed eyes of her last parent , and the heavy mourning garments in whicli she had been attired Avhen the gentle face and the fond smile were hidden