MYSTERIES OF MEMORY. 13 



once-loved ring P Where is the dark-haired stranger ? Still 

 beside her, but with looks in which conflicting feelings mingle; 

 love, withering jealousy, and grief, by turns usurp the sway. 

 Strange are the vacillations of the heart! Coldly the fair-browed 

 girl receives the homage of that breast, which once, in woodland 

 shades, she coveted no less than life, — she barely deigns to listen 

 to the voice that then could charm her, and smiles lavished upon 

 the worthless crowd are alas! denied to the claims of other days ! 



Engagements are now entered into for the dance ; a host of 

 giddy triflers seek the fair girl's hand — a monarch might sue for 

 it and be honoured in acceptance — the dark-haired stranger 

 whispers in her ear; she answers only with a freezing look, and ■ 

 a shallow fopling leads her, with exultation, to the set. The 

 music commences; a prelude is executed, and the air and the 

 figure, simultaneously, begin. The fair girl excels in the accom- 

 plishment, and her partner is, equally, an adept; she glides, 

 like a wood-nymph, through the mazes of the dance, her steps 

 are delicate and buoyant, and her attitudes full of chastened 

 gracefulness. Triumph swells her still artless bosom, and, with 

 a glowing cheek and kindling eye, she suffers herself to be con- 

 ducted to her seat. Her relations greet her with signs of 

 pleasure — she looks for the neglected — the forsaken — but that 

 familiar form is gone ! 



I see no more — a cloud envelo])es the glittering throng — it 

 subsides — it clears off like a vapour in the morning, and a new 

 scene occupies the stage. 



I behold an apartment furnished with unostentatious elegance, 

 yet marked with the attributes of wealth. Feminine taste seems 

 to have directed its appointments, prescribing to each the 

 character of luxurious refinement. The marble mantel-shelf 

 is adorned with ornaments of bronze, fashioned after the patterns 

 of Etruria, and with little porcelain vases of classic design ; of 

 the latter the largest, in the centre, is crowned with roses which, 

 the production of art, appear almost as beautiful as those with 

 which nature decorates her loveliest parterres. A table, covered 

 with purple, stands in the middle of the floor, upon it are a 

 work-box, inlaid with pearl, and an open volume, and near to it 

 is a vacant chair. Stretched upon the rug, a jet black kitten is 

 reposing in Epicurean ease, and unfolding its sables to the genial 

 influence of a cheerful fire, which diffuses a picturesque glow 

 over every object : a recess upon either side of the chimney is 

 supplied by a lofty cabinet, and a musical instrument occupies 

 the space between the windows. A sideboard of dark and 

 polished mahogany fills up the further end of the room, and, 

 opposite the piano, an open door reveals an inner apartment. A 

 lady advances from the latter: she is in the flower of life; and 

 her aspect is that of command and condescension, of dignity 

 and sweetness. A mixture of fashion and fine taste is, imme- 

 diately, discernible in her toilette; she is dressed in a robe of 



