ch gemmed the vault
of heaven,--when the dark figure passed along the sand, away from the
rudely-constructed tenement.

CHAPTER LIV.

When the sun rose again from the orient wave, Fernand repaired to the
grove, as was his wont, to gather fruits for the morning repast, while
Nisida bathed her fair form in the waters of the Mediterranean.

But there was a gloom upon that lady's brow, and there was a somber
flashing in her large dark eyes which denoted an incipient conflict of
emotions stirring within her breast.

She had retired to rest, as we have seen on the previous evening, with a
heart glowing toward her beloved and handsome Fernand--she had fallen
asleep with the tender sounds of his musical yet manly voice in her
ears, and the image of his beautiful countenance in her mind--but in the
night--she knew not at what hour--strange dreams began to oppress her,
ominous visions filled her with anxiety.

It seemed as if some being, having right to reproach and power to taunt,
whispered to her as she slept, stern remonstrances against the idle,
voluptuous, and dreaming life she was leading, mocking her for passing
her time in the maudlin delights of love, calling upon her to arouse her
latent energies and shake off that luxurious lethargy, teaching her to
look upon the island, beauteous though it were, as one vast prison in
which she was confined, from whence there were, nevertheless, means of
escape, raising up before her mental vision all the most alluring and
bustling scenes of her own fair, native city of Florence, then bitterly
reproaching her for having allowed her soul to be more wrapped up in the
society of Fernand Wagner, than solicitous, as it was wont to be, for
the welfare of her brother Francisco, creating, too, wild doubts in her
imagination as to whether circumstances might not, after all, have
united her brother and Flora Francatelli in the bonds of a union which
for many reasons she abhorred, and lastly thundering in her ears the
terrific accusation that she was perjured to a solemn and an awful vow
pledged by her lips, on a dread occasion, and to the dictating voice of
her dying mother.

When she awoke in the morning her brain appeared to be in confusion, but
as her thoughts gradually settled themselves in the various cells of the
seat of memory, the entire details of her long dream assumed the
semblance of a connected chain, even as we have just described them.

For these thoughts had arise