had, indeed, never quitted for a moment
the side of her daughter, and witnessed each day, with renewed
anguish, her deplorable condition; for Venetia continued in a state
which, to those unacquainted with her, might have been mistaken for
insensibility, but her mother knew too well that it was despair.
She never moved, she never sighed, nor wept; she took no notice of
anything that occurred; she sought relief in no resources. Books, and
drawings, and music, were quite forgotten by her; nothing amused, and
nothing annoyed her; she was not even fretful; she had, apparently,
no physical ailment; she remained pale and silent, plunged in an
absorbing paroxysm of overwhelming woe.

The unhappy Lady Annabel, at a loss how to act, at length thought it
might be advisable to cross over to Venice. She felt assured now, that
it would be a long time, if ever, before her child could again endure
the fatigue of travel; and she thought that for every reason, whether
for domestic comfort or medical advice, or those multifarious
considerations which interest the invalid, a capital was by far the
most desirable residence for them. There was a time when a visit to
the city that had given her a name had been a favourite dream of
Venetia; she had often sighed to be within

The sea-born city's walls; the graceful towers
Loved by the bard.

Those lines of her father had long echoed in her ear; but now the
proposition called no light to her glazed eye, nor summoned for an
instant the colour back to her cheek. She listened to her mother's
suggestion, and expressed her willingness to do whatever she desired.
Venice to her was now only a name; for, without the presence and the
united love of both her parents, no spot on earth could interest, and
no combination of circumstances affect her. To Venice, however, they
departed, having previously taken care that every arrangement should
be made for their reception. The English ambassador at the Ducal court
was a relative of Lady Annabel, and therefore no means or exertions
were spared to study and secure the convenience and accommodation of
the invalid. The barge of the ambassador met them at Fusina; and when
Venetia beheld the towers and cupolas of Venice, suffused with a
golden light and rising out of the bright blue waters, for a moment
her spirit seemed to lighten. It is indeed a spectacle as beautiful as
rare, and one to which the world offers few, if any, rivals. Gliding
over the great Lag