,
for, by such a proceeding, he strongly contradicted his maxims, and ran
the risk of impairing the unbiased purity of my consent by throwing love
in the balance. But I had no fear of that, because, to become enamoured,
I should have required to see her face.

"I suppose," said the veiled beauty, "that you do not know who I am?"

"I could not guess, if I tried."

"I have been for the last five years the wife of your friend, and I am a
native of Scio. I was thirteen years of age when I became his wife."

I was greatly astonished to find that my Mussulman philosopher had gone
so far as to allow me to converse with his wife, but I felt more at ease
after I had received that information, and fancied that I might carry the
adventure further, but it would be necessary to see the lady's face, for
a finely-dressed body, the head of which is not seen, excites but feeble
desires. The fire lighted by amorous desires is like a fire of straw; the
moment it burns up it is near its end. I had before me a magnificent
appearance, but I could not see the soul of the image, for a thick gauze
concealed it from my hungry gaze. I could see arms as white as alabaster,
and hands like those of Alcina, 'dove ne nodo appasisce ne vena accede',
and my active imagination fancied that all the rest was in harmony with
those beautiful specimens, for the graceful folds of the muslin, leaving
the outline all its perfection, hid from me only the living satin of the
surface; there was no doubt that everything was lovely, but I wanted to
see, in the expression of her eyes, that all that my imagination created
had life and was endowed with feeling. The Oriental costume is a
beautiful varnish placed upon a porcelain vase to protect from the touch
the colours of the flowers and of the design, without lessening the
pleasure of the eyes. Yusuf's wife was not dressed like a sultana; she
wore the costume of Scio, with a short skirt which concealed neither the
perfection of the leg nor the round form of the thigh, nor the voluptuous
plump fall of the hips, nor the slender, well-made waist encompassed in a
splendid band embroidered in silver and covered with arabesques. Above
all those beauties, I could see the shape of two globes which Apelles
would have taken for the model of those of his lovely Venus, and the
rapid, inequal movement of which proved to me that those ravishing
hillocks were animated. The small valley left between them, and which my
eyes greedil