Despite
the mellifluous eloquence of the ardent young suitor Pandolphe remains
obstinate and unmoved, and swears, by all the gods that either he will
have Captain Matamore for his son-in-law, or his refractory daughter
shall be shut up in a convent and forced to become a nun. Off he bustles
in hot haste to find a notary and have the contract of marriage drawn
without further delay.
As soon as he is out of sight Leander tries to persuade Isabelle--who
is still in her balcony, her father having carried off the key of the
street door in his pocket--to consent to fly from such persecution, and
accompany him to the cell of a certain holy hermit whom he knows,
and who is always willing and ready to marry runaway couples like
themselves, whose loves are thwarted by tyrannical parents. But the
young girl answers modestly, yet firmly, that, although she wishes
nothing so earnestly as to be permitted to bestow her hand upon her
faithful Leander, who already has her heart, she cannot disobey her
father, for that she, like all dutiful daughters, is in duty bound to
respect and submit to the commands of the author of her being; but she
promises never to marry the detested Captain Matamore--she will go into
the convent rather than listen to him for a moment.
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