1832. A Legend of the Egean. 193 



can they in no way change me. I care not what I am, so I die that 

 shepherd's loyal wife." 



" Perverse, degenerate princess !" said the monarch, " suppose thy 

 minion dead." 



" Prove it, great king ! I can but die too, rather than disown him." 



" How, while mine own son is ready, in spite the past, to espouse 

 thee." 



" He cannot force me to be his oh, Palemon !" 



" But I, Aphelia, can consign thee to a dungeon, and separate thee 

 for ever, both from Myrtillo, and this pledge of your ill-starred 

 loves." 



" Affliction, indeed, dread king, thou canst make me endure ; but 

 shalt not bend my soul to vice. Thou mayest rob the widow of her 

 liberty, her offspring, but not of her truth." 



" Ha !" whispered the brother of her sire, with solemn significance. 

 " What if Apollo himself should convince thee that there is, there hath 

 been, no Myrtillos to set thee free ?" 



" All gracious deities forbid !" ejaculated the young matron, ener- 

 getically. (t There was there is there can be none but Myrtillo for 

 me. My poor, frail love !" 



" Dreamer ! the weaknesses and errors for which thou lost that being, 

 though they wronged and pained thee, were but assumed." 



" It matters not," almost shrieked Aphelia, t( if whatever else he 

 prove he was the faultless, the wise, and constant lord I at first be- 

 lieved him ; shall I be less faithful than I would be to him, were all the 

 imperfections thou namest redoubled ? No ! he shall not cast me off, 

 or if he doth I will never be another's !" 



She swooned upon the earth. Palemon himself raised her and her 

 child to the car. On reviving, she found herself within the temple. 

 The shrine was decked with branches. The sacred fire was kindled. 

 Before it stood Eobardus, in his robes of office. At sight of his familiar 

 face, Aphelia rose, and cried aloud 



" Bear witness, oh servant of the sun ! If I be not Myrtillo's wife, I 

 am henceforth the priestess of Apollo. This boy also do I give unto 

 him, vowing that we will acknowledge no other king, no other ties. 

 Who shall dare dispute the firmness of mine oath ?" 



There was a brief silence , and then a thrilling voice replied 



" Aphelia ! that dare I." 



She lifted her eyes. Above her shone the features of her love ; but 

 the radiant garb, the laurel crown, renewed her every terror. 



" What !" added this beauteous vision, " have I not done enough in 

 educating thee for thy lofty state, in trying thy virtue by poverty, un- 

 kindness, desertion, all that can tempt a woman? Must I also own 

 thee as a peasant's bride, or part with thee, and mine heir, for ever ? 

 No ; thou who wouldst not yield to light love, even, as thou believedst, 

 with a god ; though, to conceal my birth, I availed myself, on detecting 

 it, of the delusion I sought not to create. Accept thy mortal husband's 

 reverence with his passion. Start not. This wreath I wear but in remem- 

 brance of the cruel Thracius's fall ,- the locks it clasps shall grow grey 

 ere the brow it shades ever more, even feigningly, frowns on my beloved. 

 Grace but a palace as thou hast dignified a cot, and be assured, that a 

 maid a matron noble as the wife of Laurelius, must, indeed, be ever 

 the favourite of Apollo !" 



M.M. New Series. VOL. XIII. No. 74. O 



