OCTOBER. 243 



giunye'^ in tones of such pathetic dehght as brought a tear to the 

 sternest eye. I will not throw away this rusty-looking Japonica, but 

 keep it as a talisman to guard me from the fascination of heartless 



beauty, reflecting on the character of the brilliant , in whose 



dark hair it rested during the last ball of her triumphant season, that 

 bewitching face displaying every phase of expression, while not one 

 look was inspired by a soul, any more than this flower, in its graceful 

 prime, was imbued with fragrance. Far diff"erent is the association 

 that endears the Scarlet Honeysuckle and White Hollyhock beside 

 it. Through peaceful hours that overflowed with unuttered tender- 

 ness, and an ecstatic sense of geniality and recognition, I watched 

 beside one I loved ; the humming-bird and the bee sipping the nectar 

 from their chalices, and compared the luxurious pastime with my 

 own. Nor will I cease to treasure this Orange-blossom given me by 

 the dark-eyed Palermitan in the grove of her father's domain, when 

 the air was filled with the odour of the sweet south, and musical with 

 the far-off chime of the vesper-bells. The scent of this Grape-blossom 

 is associated with the hospitality of a villa below Fiesole ; and that 

 Heliotrope makes me think of a fair invalid with whom I wandered 

 among the Ilexes of a palace-garden, in whose grassy walks the 

 Vanilla-flower grew profusely. I saved the reedy leaf that is 

 stitched to the opposite page, as one of the countless proofs of the 



thoughtful care of my motherly hostess at : she stuck it in 



my window on Palm- Sunday. When gleaned in a field near Lucca, 

 this little Flax-blossom held a dew-drop, and looked like the tearful 

 blue eye of a child : arid as it is, the pink star-like flower beneath 

 whispers of romance. At a pic-nic, a friend of mine, who has an 

 extreme impatience of tenter-hooks, determined to have his position 

 with a certain fair one defined, as, after some encouragement, she 

 seemed half inclined for another. With true feminine tact she 

 avoided an interview, though they constantly met. I believe she 

 either could not decide between the two, or hated to give up my 

 friend. He laughingly proposed, while we were resting in a mea- 

 dow, to make his favourite a sibyl, and handed her a knot of these 

 starry flowers, to pluck the leaves one by one and reveal the hearts 

 of the company, according to a familiar game. When the time came 

 to apply the test to her own sentiments, she was visibly embarrassed. 

 He fixed his calm eyes upon her face, and I, knowing at once his 

 delicacy and his superstition, felt that this was a crisis. The lovely 

 creature's voice trembled, when, half petulantly, and with visible 

 disappointment, she plucked away the last leaf, which proved her 

 only his well-wisher. The omen was accepted, and my friend soon 

 had 



" A rougher task in hand 

 Than to drive liking to the name of love." 



Flowers are the most unobjectionable and welcome of gifts. 

 There is a delicacy in selecting an oflfering, whether of gratitude, 

 kindness, or affection, that sometimes puzzles a considerate mind ; 

 but where any such hesitancy occurs, we can turn to flowers with 

 complacency. Nature furnishes them, and all her beautiful products 



