Languages & literature > Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane > Volume 1

5* THE ADVENTURES OF
it was not reafonable that I fhould bury mjn
charms any longer; that I had fufficiently be-ir
wailed the fate of a man with whom I had beeilj
united but a few moments; and that I ought to!
profit by the occafion that now prefented itfelf;!
by which means I fhould be the happieft woman
in the world. Then fhe extolled the great fa|t
mily of the old marquis, his vaft eftate, and uifc ;
fclemifhed chara&er : but her eloquence in diBi t:
playing the advantages he poireffed was in vainl
it was not in her power to perfuade me; not!
that 1 doubted the death of Don Alvaro, or wa|j
reftrained by the fear of feeing him again, wheijf:
I fhould leaft expert him ; the little inclination^
or rather the reluctance, I felt for a fecond marljl
riage, after having fullered fo many misfortunes;!
by my firft, was the only obftacle my relations
had to remove. She did not difpair for all that|!'
on the contrary, it redoubled her zeal for Dciij
Ambrofio; fhe engaged my whole family in the:
interefts of that lord; my relations prefTed me1
to accept of fuch an advantageous match; I was;
every moment befieged, importuned, and tor-!
mented ; and my mifery, which daily encreafed
contributed not a little to overcome my reiiit*i
ance.
Being unable, therefore, to hold out any long¬
er, I yielded to their preffing inltances, and mar Id :
ried the marquis of Guardia, who, the day aftei ;
our nuptials, carried me to a very' fine caftlf i
which he had, fituated near Burgos, betweei|p
Grajal and Rodillas. He conceived the molhl
violent paflion for me, and I obferved in than
whole of his behaviour the utmoft defire of pleaflp:
iing me. His only ftudy was to anticipate mm
wifhes. No hufband had ever fuch a tender rewt
gaid for his wife; and no lover ever fhe wed i