d the young Italian, folding her in
a close embrace and showering ardent kisses upon her forehead and lips.
"But you, dearest, you are well? You have not forgotten me, have not
ceased to love me?"

"Forgotten you, ceased to love you, Giovanni!" whispered the quivering
girl, in a tone of slight reproach, gazing fondly into his eyes. "Have I
not given you my solemn promise to love you only?"

"Forgive me, my own!" cried the youthful Viscount. "What is a lover
without fears and doubts? They are the proof of the strength of his
adoration!"

They seated themselves at the foot of the branching elm, the friendly
shelter of which shut them in. Then Zuleika said, with apprehension in
her voice:

"Why did you come here, Giovanni? Are you not aware that you are running
a great risk and putting me in peril? If we are found together, you will
be ignominiously expelled and I severely punished. Besides, think of the
disgrace for us both in such an event! The matter will get abroad,
furnish food for gossip and certainly reach the ears of my father and
brother, whose displeasure I dread more than all else! Think, too, that
Esperance will call you to account for your conduct, and I could never
bear a quarrel between you and him in which, perhaps, blood might be
shed!"

"Never fear, Zuleika," replied Massetti, gallantly. "Should we be
discovered I will shield you. As to your father and brother, they cannot
be displeased, for I will explain all to them and end by demanding you
in marriage. Why have I come here? Simply because I could hold aloof
from you no longer. I felt that I must see you, speak with you, renew my
vows of love. Oh! Zuleika, the world is all dark to me without your
smile!"

"But you promised me to wait!"

"I know it; but I miscalculated my strength when I made that promise.
Could I see you I might be patient; but to wait for weeks and weeks
without even a glimpse of your dear face, without once hearing the sound
of your beloved voice, is utterly beyond me. I cannot do it!"

"You must. Nothing else can be done. My father wishes me to remain at
the convent school for a year, and the rules positively prohibit your
visits. Be patient yet awhile, Giovanni. We both are very young and have
a life of happiness to look forward to. Besides, we can see each other
at the Palazzo Costi during vacation, and that is something."

"It is nothing to a man who wishes to see you constantly, to be always
with you. Oh! Zuleika, I c