intercourse—careless, and yet constrained—which constitutes society. I can imagine—nay, fancy I was meant for an existence so different—an existence where all the deeper feelings would not be wholly wasted, as they are now. But I need the wand of the enchanter to lead me through the weary maze in which habit and indifference soon entangles one hitherto without a dearer aim. Just now," for he perceived Francesca was meditating a retreat—a design which he set down to embarrassment, "my head is full of some exquisite lines I was reading this morning in your library. I hear, Lady Francesca, that it is a favourite room of yours. Do pray join with me in admiring the picturesque tenderness with which the poet invests his dream of futurity." So saying, in a voice low and sweet as just-heard music, he repeated the following lines:—
"I disdain
All pomp when thou art by: far be the noise
Of kings, and courts, from us, whose gentle souls
Our kinder stars have steered another way.
Free as the forest-birds we'll pair together—
Fly to the arbours, grots, and flowery meads
And in soft murmurs interchange our souls;
Together drink the crystal of the stream,
Or taste the yellow fruit which autumn yields;
And, when the golden evening calls us home,
Wing to our downy nest, and sleep till morn."
