braidings had to give way to my
inordinate yearning for him, and dissolved uselessly into thin air.

For several days I longed exceedingly to learn who was the youth I
loved, toward whom my thoughts were ever clearly leading me; and this I
craftily learned, the which filled me with great content. In like
manner, the ornaments for which I had before this in no way cared, as
having but little need thereof, began to be dear to me, thinking that
the more I was adorned the better should I please. Wherefore I prized
more than hitherto my garments, gold, pearls, and my other precious
things. Until the present moment it had been my custom to frequent
churches, gardens, festivals, and seaside resorts, without other wish
than the companionship of young friends of my own sex; now, I sought the
aforesaid places with a new desire, believing that both to see and be
seen would bring me great delectation. But, in sooth, the trust which I
was wont to place in my beauty had deserted me, and now I never left my
chamber, without first seeking the faithful counsel of my mirror: and my
hands, newly instructed thereunto by I know not what cunning master,
discovering each day some more elegant mode of adornment than the day
before, and deftly adding artificial charms to my natural loveliness,
thereby caused me to outshine all the other ladies in my surpassing
splendor. Furthermore, I began to wish for the honors usually paid to me
by ladies, because of their gracious courtesy, though, perhaps, they
were rather the guerdon of my noble birth, being due to me therefor,
thinking that if I appeared so magnificent to my beloved's eyes, he
would take the more delight in beholding me. Avarice, too, which is
inborn in women, fled from me, so that I became free and openhanded, and
regarded my own possessions almost as if they were not my own. The
sedateness that beseems a woman fell away from me somewhat, and I grew
bolder in my ways; and, in addition to all this, my eyes, which until
that day looked out on the world simply and naturally, entirely changed
their manner of looking, and became so artful in their office that it
was a marvel. And many other alterations appeared in me over and above
these, all of which I do not care to relate, for besides that the
report thereof would be too tedious, I ween full well that you, like me,
also have been, or are, in love, and know what changes take place in
those who are in such sad case.

He was a most wary and