"At least," said the Prince, "do not despair before all remedies
have been tried. The inquiry after the unfortunate lady is still
continued, and shall be carried on with yet greater diligence, on
condition that you will promise to wait a year for the event,
without any unalterable resolution."

Nekayah thought this a reasonable demand, and made the promise to
her brother, who had been obliged by Imlac to require it. Imlac
had, indeed, no great hope of regaining Pekuah; but he supposed
that if he could secure the interval of a year, the Princess would
be then in no danger of a cloister.



CHAPTER XXXVI--PEKUAH IS STILL REMEMBERED. THE PROGRESS OF SORROW.



Nekayah, seeing that nothing was omitted for the recovery of her
favourite, and having by her promise set her intention of
retirement at a distance, began imperceptibly to return to common
cares and common pleasures. She rejoiced without her own consent
at the suspension of her sorrows, and sometimes caught herself with
indignation in the act of turning away her mind from the
remembrance of her whom yet she resolved never to forget.

She then appointed a certain hour of the day for meditation on the
merits and fondness of Pekuah, and for some weeks retired
constantly at the time fixed, and returned with her eyes swollen
and her countenance clouded. By degrees she grew less scrupulous,