Before he let her go he begged her to
suggest some plan by which he could hope to soften the obdurate
beauty--appealing to her great experience in such intrigues, and
offering to give her any reward she chose to claim if she would but
help him to succeed. She had nothing better to propose, however, than
secretly administering a strong narcotic to Isabelle, and concerting
some plan to deliver her into his hands while unconscious from the
effects of it; which even the unscrupulous young duke indignantly
rejected. Whereupon, fixing her wicked old eyes admiringly upon his
handsome face, and apparently moved by a sudden inspiration, she said:
"But why does not your lordship conduct this affair in person? why not
begin a regular and assiduous courtship in the good old style? You
are as beautiful as Adonis, my lord duke! You are young, fascinating,
powerful, wealthy, a favourite at court, rich in everything that is
pleasing to the weaker sex; and there is not a woman on earth who could
long hold out against you, if you would condescend, my lord, to plead
your own cause with her."
"By Jove! the old woman is right," said Vallombreuse to himself,
glancing complacently at the reflection of his own handsome face
and figure in a full-length mirror opposite to him; "Isabelle may be
virtuous and cold, but she is not blind, and Nature has not been so
unkind to me that the sight of me should inspire her with horror.
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