on, as usual, on the other. Nor was
this all, for the princess--still with Mansana at her side--walked back
once more; and together, for more than a full hour, they strolled to
and fro, with the old wall just above them and the glorious scenery at
their feet. At last, however, she was in her carriage; she had driven
away, and, at the turn where the steep and winding road led into the
level highway, she had once again looked up to bow and smile in answer
to his prolonged farewell salute. Yet, though more than another hour
had passed since then, Mansana was still walking up and down alone. The
bold curves and outlines of the bay, the green slopes of the mountain
sides, the limitless expanse of deep blue sea, the distant sails, the
curling wreaths of smoke in the horizon.... Ah! the untold beauties of
this bay of Ancona.

In their unforeseen meeting on that memorable evening, she discovered
in him traits of character and qualities not dissimilar to her own. She
showed him that her earlier history and his had many points in common,
while she confessed, too, the foolish obstinacy and restless ambition
of her nature. He heard all this from her own lips with a joy he
scarcely could conceal. His being seemed dominated by a hovering image
of ideal beauty, shadowed, it is true, by faults and failings similar
to his own, but enriched by a halo of grace and beauty which had power
to draw even him within its rays. Ah! the bay of Ancona. How beautiful
it was, with its curving shores, its waves tinged to a deep blue-black
by every passing breeze, and, over all, a mellow tint which melted
seawards into a misty, luminous haze!

CHAPTER VII

After this encounter, Mansana might very well have gone to visit the
princess at her palace, but he still hesitated, perhaps with the secret
hope that she might make one more advance towards him. The kind of
self-brooding vanity, which he had so long cherished in secret, can be
carried to absurd extremes, and is apt to be at once too retiring and
too exacting. His shy reserve forbade him to call upon her, in spite of
her express invitation, and yet he was audacious enough to cherish a
hope that she would seek him at the place where he had already met her.
Every day he went to the Cathedral at the hour of mass, in the vain
hope of seeing her again. When at length he did accidentally meet her,
as she was walking along the promenade by the bay, he perceived that