Volume IV Part 8 (2/2)

I was having my supper when Stuard and his ent to their rooht I heard no sobs nor reproaches, but early nextI was surprised to see the chevalier who said, as if we had been old friends, that he had heard that I was going to Vaucluse, and that as I had taken a carriage with four places he would be ed if I would allow hio with ed to be allowed to acco that he had been a true prophet In fact it seereed to repayme new hopes I was not displeased with the expedition, and it was all to e as handsoe loaded with the best provisions in food and drink that were obtainable; and we set off, Dolci seated beside the lady and I beside the chevalier

I had thought that the lady's sadness would give place, if not to gaiety, at least to a quiet cheerfulness, but I was ay, she replied, either in monosyllables or in a severely laconic style Poor Dolci, as full of as stupefied He thought hiry with hi innocently cast a shadow on the party of pleasure I relieved hi him that when he offered me his pleasant society I was not aware that I was to be of service to the fair lady I added that when at day-break I received this inforood colooht and left like one who does not see what is before his [her] eyes

Dolci felt at ease after my explanation, and did his best to arouse the lady, but without success He talked on a variety of topics to the husband, always giving her an opportunity of joining in, but her lips remained motionless She looked like the statue of Pandora before it had been quickened by the divine flame

The beauty of her face was perfect; her eyes were of a brilliant blue, her complexion a delicate mixture of white and red, her arms were as rounded as a Grace's, her hands plu delightful hints of a nificent breast; her hair was a chestnut brown, her foot small: she had all that constitutes a beautiful woift of intellect, which liness itself My vagrant fancy shewed ht that though shefancy she could not arouse a durable affection She ht minister to a man's pleasures, she could not make him happy I arrived at the isle resolved to trouble ht, beherself in the power of aher, and yet I could not forgive her for consenting to be of a party which she knew she must spoil by her morose behaviour

As for the self-styled Chevalier Stuard, I did not trouble , coood, and his conversation betrayed both ignorance and stupidity He was a beggar, devoid of money and wits, and I could not make out why he took with hi to hisPerhaps he expected to live at the expense of sinorance, that the world is full of such; however, experience ht hiot to Vaucluse I let Dolci lead; he had been there a hundred times, and his merit was enhanced in my eyes by the fact that he was a lover of the lover of Laura We left the carriage at Apt, and wended our way to the fountain which was honoured that day with a nurims The stream pours forth from a vast cavern, the handiwork of nature, inimitable by man It is situated at the foot of a rock with a sheer descent of h, and the water pours forth from it in such abundance that it deserves the naue which falls into the Rhone near Avignon There is no other stream as pure and clear, for the rocks over which it flows harbour no deposits of any kind Those who dislike it on account of its apparent blackness should relooe

Chiare fresche a dolce aque Ove le belle membra Pose colei the sola a me pay donna

I wished to ascend to that part of the rock where Petrarch's house stood I gazed on the rerave Sixteen years later I slept at Arqua, where Petrarch died, and his house still remains The likeness between the two situations was astonishi+ng, for from Petrarch's study at Arqua a rock can be seen similar to that which may be viewed at Vaucluse; this was the residence of Madonna Laura

”Let us go there,” said I, ”it is not far off”

I will not endeavour to delineate s as I contemplated the ruins of the house where dwelt the lady whom the amorous Petrarch immortalised in his verse--verse made to move a heart of stone:

”Morte bella parea nel sobl viso”

I threw round as if I would embrace the very stones I kissed them, I watered them with my tears, I strove to breathe the holy breath they once contained I begged Madae to the spirit of a woman who had quickened the profoundest soul that ever lived

I say soul advisedly, for after all the body and the senses had nothing to do with the connection

”Four hundred years have past and gone,” said I to the statue of a woazed at me in astonishment, ”since Laura de Sade walked here; perhaps she was not as handsoood of heart May this air which she breathed and which you breathe now kindle in you the spark of fire divine; that fire that coursed through her veins, and made her heart beat and her bosom swell

Then you would win the worshi+p of all worthy men, and from none would you receive the least offence Gladness, madam, is the lot of the happy, and sadness the portion of souls conde pains Be cheerful, then, and you will do so to deserve your beauty”

The worthy Dolci was kindled by ain and again; the fool Stuard laughed; and his wife, who possibly thought htest emotion She took my arm, and alked slowly towards the house of Messer Francesco d'Arezzo, where I spent a quarter of an hour in cutting my name After that we had our dinner

Dolci lavished more attention on the extraordinary wo but eat and drink, and despised the Sorgue water, which, said he, would spoil the Here; possibly Petrarch may have been of the sa our reason, but the lady was very tenon we bade her farewell, declining the invitation of her foolish husband to come and rest in his rooms

I took Dolci's arm and alked beside the Rhone as the sun went down

A man said,--

”That woman is an old hand, infatuated with a sense of her own merit

I would bet that she has only left her own country because her char too freely displayed, have ceased to please there Sheher fortune out of anybody she comes across I suspect that the felloho passes for her husband is a rascal, and that her pretended melancholy is put on to drive a persistent lover to distraction She has not yet succeeded in finding a dupe, but as she will no doubt try to catch a richover you”

When a young e reasons like that, he is bound to becoht, thanked hireed that ould see more of one another