ss being, O traitorous soul!
And dost thou not hide thy face for shame beneath the earth? Art thou so
unmindful of thy vows so lately made? Ah, man of easy faith! Why have I
worn these ribbons! But woe to the rival who so contemns me! Only across
my body shall he advance to the altar!"

The guests arose; the Notary was in frightful distress; the Chamberlain
was making hurried efforts to reconcile the rivals, but Telimena, taking
the Count aside, whispered to him:--

"The Notary has not yet taken me as his wife: if you have anything against
his doing so, answer me this, and answer me right off, short and to the
point: do you love me, have you not yet changed your affections, are you
ready to marry me right off; right off, to-day? If you agree, I will give
up the Notary."

"O woman beyond my comprehension!" said the Count, "formerly in thy
feelings thou wast poetic; but now thou seemest altogether prosaic. What
are your marriages except chains that bind only the hands and not the
spirit? Believe me, there are proffers of love even without an avowal of
it, and there are duties even without an engagement! Two burning hearts at
the two ends of the earth converse together like stars with trembling
beams. Who knows? Perhaps for this very reason the earth so aspires
towards the sun, and is thus ever dear to the moon--that they gaze upon
each other eternally, and run towards each other by the shortest path, but
can never draw near to each other!"

"Enough of that," she interrupted; "by the grace of God I am no planet,
Count! Enough, Count, I am a woman. I know what's coming; make an end to
all this chatter. Now I warn you; if you utter one word to break off my
marriage, then, as God is in Heaven, I will jump at you with these nails
and----"

"I will not disturb your happiness, madam," said the Count, and he turned
away his eyes, full of grief and contempt; and, in order to punish his
faithless sweetheart, he chose the Chamberlain's daughter as the object of
his constant flames.

The Seneschal was eager to make peace between the estranged young men by
citing wise examples, so he began to recount the story of the wild boar of
the forests of Naliboki, and of the quarrel between Rejtan and the Prince
de Nassau;222 but meanwhile the guests had finished eating their ices and
were going outside the castle into the yard, to enjoy the fresh air.

There the peasantry were just finishing their banquet, and pitchers of
mead were goi