صفحة 525 من 1118

He told him that Lucy had been taken into the convent under the

protection of the signora; that she lived there as secluded as if

she were a nun, never putting her foot without the walls; that

she assisted at the ceremonies of the church behind a grated

window; and that it was impossible to obtain a view of her.

This relation put the devil into Roderick, or rather rendered the

one more uncontrollable that sojourned there already. So many

favourable circumstances concurring to forward his designs,

inflamed the medley of spleen, rage, and infamous desire, which

he dignified by the name of love. Renzo absent, expelled,

banished, every measure against him became lawful; his betrothed

herself might be considered in some sort as the property of a

rebel. The only man who could and would take her under his

protection, the friar, would soon be deprived of the power to do

so; but, amidst so many unlooked-for facilities, one obstacle

appeared to render them unavailable. A monastery of Monza, even

if there were no signora there, was an obstacle not to be

surmounted even by Don Roderick. He in vain wandered, in his

imagination, around this asylum, not being able to devise any

means of violating it, either by force or intrigue.