I cannot promise you, replied the lady, rising, to prevail upon Sydimiris to grant you an audience; but I assure you, that I will endeavour to dispose her to do you this favour; and it shall not be my fault if you are not satisfied.
Saying this, she went out of my chamber, I having followed her to the door, with protestations that I would never forget her kindness upon this occasion.
I passed the rest of that day in an anxious impatience for night, divided between fear and hope, and more taken up with the thoughts of seeing Sydimiris, than with my expected liberty.
Night came at last, and the door of my apartment opening, I saw the lady who had been with me in the morning enter.
I have prevailed upon Sydimiris to see you, said she; and she is willing, at my entreaty, to grant that favour to a person who, she with reason thinks, has been inhumanly treated by her brother.
Then, giving me her hand, she conducted me along a large gallery, to a stately apartment; and after traversing several rooms, she led me into one where Sydimiris herself was: who, as soon as she perceived me, rose from her seat, and received me with great civility.
In the transport I then was, I know not how I returned the graceful salute the incomparable Sydimiris gave me; for most certain it is, that I was so lost in wonder, at the sight of the many charms I beheld in her person, that I could not unlock my tongue, or remove my eyes from her enchanting face; but remained fixed in a posture which at once expressed my admiration and delight.
To give you a description of that beauty which I then contemplated, I must inform you, madam, that Sydimiris is tall, of a handsome stature, and admirably proportioned; her hair was of the finest black in the world; her complexion marvellously fair; all the lineaments of her visage were perfectly beautiful; and her eyes, which were large and black, sparkled with so quick and piercing a fire, that no heart was able to resist their powerful glances. Moreover, Sydimiris is admirably shaped; her port is high and noble; and her air so free, yet so commanding, that there are few persons in the world with whom she may not dispute the priority of beauty. In fine, madam, Sydimiris appeared with so many advantages to a spirit prepossessed already with the most grateful sense of her favours, that I could not resist the sweet violence wherewith her charms took possession of my heart: I yielded, therefore, without reluctance, to my destiny, and resigned myself, in an instant, to those fetters which the sight of the divine Sydimiris prepared for me. Recovering therefore a little from that admiration which had so totally engrossed all my faculties, I threw myself at her feet with an action wholly composed of transport.
Divine Sydimiris! said I, beholding her with eyes in which the letters of my new-born passion might very plainly be read, see at your feet a man devoted to your service by all the ties of gratitude and respect. I come, madam, to declare to you, that from the first moment you gave me liberty, I had devoted that and my life to you; and at your feet I confirm the gift; protesting by all that is most dear and sacred to me, that since I hold my life from the divine Sydimiris, she alone shall have the absolute disposal of it for the future; and should she please again to demand it, either to appease her brother's fury or to sacrifice it to her own security, I will most faithfully perform her will, and shed the last drop of that blood at her command, which I would with transport lose in her defence.
A fine high-flown speech, indeed! said Sir Charles, laughing: but I hope you did not intend to keep your word.