Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin

. Oh, spare me, Grimbald! / I will tempt hermits for thee in their cells, / And virgins in their dreams. / - Dryden's King Arthur

It is a singular, but well-attested fact, that women who are compelled to undergo all the inconveniences and uneasiness of clandestine pregnancy, often fare better than those whose situation is watched over by tender and anxious relatives; and that concealed or illegitimate births are actually attended with less danger and suffering than those which have all the aid that skill and affection can give. So it appeared likely to fare with Isidora. The retirement in which her family lived -- the temper of Doña Clara, as slow to suspect from want of penetration, as she was eager in pursuing an object once discovered, from the natural cupidity of a vacant mind -- these circumstances, combined with the dress of the day, the enormous and enveloping farthingale, gave safety to her secret, at least till the arrival of its crisis. As this crisis approached, one may easily imagine the secret and trembling preparation -- the important nurse, proud of the trust reposed in her -- the confidential maid -- the faithful and discreet medical attendant -- to obtain all these Melmoth supplied her amply with money -- a circumstance that would have surprised Isidora, as his appearance was always remarkably plain and private, if, at this moment of anxiety, any thought but that of the hour could have found room in her mind.