If he had been asked what he
considered the sweetest possible task, he would have answered in all
sincerity--'To obey her.' Nothing in the world would have mortified him
so much as to be accounted by her a commonplace man. By no other woman
had he so ardently desired to be praised, admired, understood,
appreciated in his tastes, his cultivation, his artistic aspirations,
his ideals, his dreams, all the noblest parts of his spirit and his
life. And his highest ambition was to fill her heart.
She had now been ten days at Schifanoja, and in those ten days how
entirely she had subjugated him! They had conversed sometimes for hours
seated on the terrace or on one of the numerous marble benches scattered
about the grounds or in the long rose-bordered avenues, while Delfina
sped like a little gazelle through the winding paths of the orange
groves. In her conversation she displayed a charming flow of language,
many gems of delicate yet keen observation, occasionally affording
glimpses of her inner self with a candour that was full of grace; and
when speaking of her travels, she would often, by a single picturesque
phrase, call up before Andrea's eyes wide vistas of distant lands and
seas. On his part, he did his utmost to show himself to the best
advantage, to impress upon her the wide range of his culture, the
refinement of his taste, the exquisite keenness of his susceptibilities,
and his heart swelled with pride when she said in tones of unfeigned
sincerity after reading his _Story of the Hermaphrodite_--
'No music has ever carried me away like this poem, nor has any statue
ever given me such an impression of harmonious beauty.
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