"
The Carmelite had been an attentive and an indulgent observer of the
emotion which sensations so novel had awakened in the ardent but
unpractised breast of the fair Venetian. Pity, sorrow, and sympathy,
were painted on his mortified face, as he witnessed the mastery of
feeling over a mind so guileless, and a heart so warm; but the look was
rather that of one who knew the dangers of the passions, than of one who
condemned them without thought of their origin or power. At the appeal
of the governess he turned away and silently quitted the room. Donna
Florinda left the balcony and drew near her charge. There was no
explanation, nor any audible or visible means of making their sentiments
known to each other. Violetta threw herself into the arms of her more
experienced friend, and struggled to conceal her face in her bosom. At
this moment the music suddenly ceased, and the plash of oars falling
into the water succeeded.
"He is gone!" exclaimed the young creature who had been the object of
the serenade, and whose faculties, spite of her confusion, had lost none
of their acuteness. "The gondolas are moving away, and we have not made
even the customary acknowledgments for their civility!"
"It is not needed--or rather it might increase a hazard that is already
too weighty. Remember thy high destiny, my child, and let them depart."
"And yet methinks one of my station should not fail in courtesy.
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