hem to see him, and the women in particular, who did
not dare to look at him but by stealth, said in an under voice, 'What a
pity it is!' If, however, any of his compatriots of exalted rank and of
high reputation came forward to treat him with courtesy, he showed
himself obviously flattered by it, and was greatly pleased with such
association. It seemed that to the wound which remained always open in
his ulcerated heart such soothing attentions were as drops of healing
balm, which comforted him.

"Speaking of his marriage,--a delicate subject, but one still agreeable
to him, if it was treated in a friendly voice,--he was greatly moved,
and said it had been the innocent cause of all his errors and all his
griefs. Of his wife he spoke with much respect and affection. He said
she was an illustrious lady, distinguished for the qualities of her
heart and understanding, and that all the fault of their cruel
separation lay with himself. Now, was such language dictated by justice
or by vanity? Does it not bring to mind the saying of Julius, that the
wife of Caesar must not even be suspected? What vanity in that saying of
Caesar! In fact, if it had not been from vanity, Lord Byron would have
admitted this to no one. Of his young daughter, his dear Ada, he spoke
with great tenderness, and seemed to be pleased at the great sacrifice
he had made in leaving her to comfort her mother. The intense hatred he
bore his mother-in-law, and a sort of Euryclea of Lady Byron, two women
to whose influence he, in a great measure, attributed her estrangement
from him,--demonstrated clearly how painful the separation was to him,
notwithstanding some bitter pleasantries which occasionally occur in his
writings against her also, dictated rather by rancour than by
indifference."

[Footnote 47: "Il Conte Guiccioli doveva per affari ritornare a Ravenna;
lo stato della mia salute esiggeva che io ritornassi in vece a Venezia.
Egli acconsenti dunque che Lord Byron, mi fosse compagno di viaggio.
Partimmo da Bologna alli 15 di Sre.--visitammo insieme i Colli Euganei
ed Arqua; scrivemmo i nostri nomi nel libro che si presenta a quelli che
fanno quel pellegrinaggio. Ma sopra tali rimembranze di felicita non
posso fermarmi, caro Signr. Moore; l'opposizione col presente e troppo
forte, e se un anima benedetta nel pieno godimento di tutte le felicita
celesti fosse mandata quaggiu e condannata a sopportare tutte le miserie
della nostra terra non potrebbe sentir