“’Tis a vile act,” said Conscience. “It will prove,”
Replied the bolder man, “an act of love:
Her wicked guardian might the girl have sold
To endless misery for a tyrant’s gold;
Now may her life be happy - for I mean
To keep my temper even and serene.”
“I cannot thus compound,” the spirit cried,
“Nor have my laws thus broken and defied:
This is a fraud, a bargain for a wife;
Expect my vengeance, or amend your life.”