34 THE HAPPY BEAUTY 



compassion ; then, retiring a little from her, she opened and read 

 the following letter : — 



" Glaucus to lone sends more than he dares to utter. Is lone 

 ill ? thy slaves tell me ' no,' and -that assurance comforts me. 

 Has Glaucus offended lone ? ah ! that question I may not ask 

 from them. For five days 1 have been banished from thy pre- 

 sence. Has the sun shone ? — I know it not ; has the sky smiled ? 

 — it has had no smile for me. My sun and my sky are lone. Do 

 I ofiend thee ? Am I too bold ? Do I say that on the tablet 

 which my tongue has hesitated to breathe ? Alas ! it is in thine 

 absence that I feel most the spells by which thou hast subdued 

 me. And absence, that deprives me of joy, brings me courage. 

 Thou wilt not see me; thou hast banished also the common flat- 

 terers that flock around thee. Canst thou confound me with 

 them ? It is not possible I Thou knowest too well that I am 

 not of them — that their clay is not mine. For even were I of the 

 humblest mould, the fragrance of the rose has penetrated me, 

 and the spirit of thy nature hath passed within me, to embalm, 

 to sanctify, to inspire. Have they slanderd me to thee, lone ? 

 Thou wilt not believe them. Did the Delphic oracle itself tell 

 me thou wert unworthy, I would not believe it : and am I less 

 incredulous than thou ? I think of the last time we met — of the 

 song which I sang to thee — of the look that thou gavest me in 

 return. Disguise it as thou wilt, lone, there is something kin- 

 dred between us, and our eyes acknowledge it, though our lips 

 were silent. Deign to see me, to listen to me, and after that 

 exclude me if thou wilt. I meant not so soon to say I loved. 

 But those words rush to my heart — they will have way. Accept, 

 then, my homage and my vows. We met first at the shrine of 

 Pallas ; shall we not meet before a softer and a more ancient 

 altar. 



" Beautiful ! adored lone ! If my hot youth and my Athenian 

 blood have misguided and allured me, they have but taught my 

 wanderings to appreciate the rest — the haven they have attained. 

 I hang up my dripping robes on the Sea-god's shrine. I have 

 escaped shipwreck. I have found thee. lone, deign to see me ; 

 thou art gentle to strangers, wilt thou be less merciful to those of 

 thine own land ? I await thy reply. Accept the flowers which 

 1 send — their sweet breath has a language more eloquent than 

 words. They lake from the sun the odours they return — they 

 are the emblem of the love that receives and repays tenfold — the 

 emblem of the heart that drunk thy rays and owes to thee the 



