th came
warm upon his cheek. He trembled,--HE! the lofty, the mysterious Zanoni,
who seemed to stand aloof from his race. With a deep and burning sigh,
he murmured, "Viola, I love thee! Oh!" he continued passionately, and,
releasing his hold, he threw himself abruptly at her feet, "I no more
command,--as woman should be wooed, I woo thee. From the first glance of
those eyes, from the first sound of thy voice, thou becamest too fatally
dear to me. Thou speakest of fascination,--it lives and it breathes
in thee! I fled from Naples to fly from thy presence,--it pursued me.
Months, years passed, and thy sweet face still shone upon my heart. I
returned, because I pictured thee alone and sorrowful in the world, and
knew that dangers, from which I might save thee, were gathering
near thee and around. Beautiful Soul! whose leaves I have read with
reverence, it was for thy sake, thine alone, that I would have given
thee to one who might make thee happier on earth than I can. Viola!
Viola! thou knowest not--never canst thou know--how dear thou art to
me!"

It is in vain to seek for words to describe the delight--the proud, the
full, the complete, and the entire delight--that filled the heart of the
Neapolitan. He whom she had considered too lofty even for love,--more
humble to her than those she had half-despised! She was silent, but her
eyes spoke to him; and then slowly, as aware, at last, that the human
love had advanced on the ideal, she shrank into the terrors of a modest
and virtuous nature. She did not dare,--she did not dream to ask him the
question she had so fearlessly made to Glyndon; but she felt a sudden
coldness,--a sense that a barrier was yet between love and love. "Oh,
Zanoni!" she murmured, with downcast eyes, "ask me not to fly with
thee; tempt me not to my shame. Thou wouldst protect me from others. Oh,
protect me from thyself!"

"Poor orphan!" said he, tenderly, "and canst thou think that I ask from
thee one sacrifice,--still less the greatest that woman can give to
love? As my wife I woo thee, and by every tie, and by every vow that can
hallow and endear affection. Alas! they have belied love to thee indeed,
if thou dost not know the religion that belongs to it! They who truly
love would seek, for the treasure they obtain, every bond that can make
it lasting and secure. Viola, weep not, unless thou givest me the holy
right to kiss away thy tears!"

And that beautiful face, no more averted, drooped upon hi