And words of true love pass from tongue to tongue,

As singing birds from one bough to another. PRECIOSA. That were a life indeed to make time envious!

I knew that thou wouldst visit me to-night.
I saw thee at the play.

VICTORIAN.

Sweet child of air!

Never did I behold thee so attired

And garmented in beauty, as to-night!

What hast thou done to make thee look so fair? PRECIOSA. Am I not always fair?

VICTORIAN.

Ay, and so fair That I am jealous of all eyes that see thee, And wish that they were blind. PRECIOSA.

I heed them not; When thou art present, I see none but thee! VICTORIAN.-There's nothing fair nor beautiful, but takes

Something from thee, that makes it beautiful. PRECIOSA. And yet thou leavest me for those dusty books.

VICTORIAN. Thou comest between me and those books too often!

I see thy face in everything I see!

The paintings in the chapel wear thy looks,
The canticles are changed to sarabands,
And with the learned doctors of the schools
I see thee dance cachuchas.

PRECIOSA.

In good sooth, I dance with learned doctors of the schools To-morrow morning.

VICTORIAN.

And with whom, I pray?

PRECIOSA. A grave and reverend Cardinal, and

his Grace

The Archbishop of Toledo.

VICTORIAN.—

Is this?

What mad jest

PRECIOSA. It is no jest; indeed it is not.
VICTORIAN.-Prithee, explain thyself.

PRECIOSA.

Why, simply thus. Thou knowest the Pope has sent here into Spain To put a stop to dances on the stage. VICTORIAN.-I have heard it whispered. Now the Cardinal,

PRECIOSA.

Who for this purpose comes, would fain behold With his own eyes these dances; and the Archbishop

Has sent for me

VICTORIAN.

them!

That thou may'st dance before

Now viva la cachucha! It will breathe
The fire of youth into these gray old men!
"Twill be thy proudest conquest!

PRECIOSA.

Saving one. And yet I fear these dances will be stopped, And Preciosa be once more a beggar. VICTORIAN.-The sweetest beggar that e'er asked for alms;

With such beseeching eyes, that when I saw thee

I gave my heart away!

PRECIOSA.

When first we met?

VICTORIAN.

Dost thou remember

It was at Córdova,

In the cathedral garden. Thou wast sitting Under the orange trees beside a fountain. PRECIOSA.-'Twas Easter Sunday. The full-blossomed trees

Filled all the air with fragrance and with joy. The priests were singing, and the organ sounded,

And then anon the great cathedral bell.

It was the elevation of the Host.

We both of us fell down upon our knees, Under the orange boughs, and prayed together. I never had been happy till that moment. VICTORIAN.-Thou blessed angel!

PRECIOSA.

And when thou wast gone I felt an aching here. I did not speak

To any one that day. But from that day
Bartolomé grew hateful unto me.
VICTORIAN.-Remember him no more.
his shadow

Come between thee and me.

Let not

Sweet Preciosa!

I loved thee even then, though I was silent! PRECIOSA. I thought I ne'er should see thy face

again.

Thy farewell had a sound of sorrow in it. VICTORIAN.-That was the first sound in the song of love!

Scarce more than silence is, and yet a sound. Hands of invisible spirits touch the strings Of that mysterious instrument, the soul, And play the prelude of our fate. We hear The voice prophetic, and are not alone. PRECIOSA. That is my faith. Dost thou believe these warnings?

VICTORIAN.-So far as this. Our feelings and our thoughts

Tend ever on, and rest not in the Present.
As drops of rain fall into some dark well,

And from below comes a scarce audible sound,
So fall our thoughts into the dark Hereafter,
And their mysterious echo reaches us.

PRECIOSA. I have felt it so, but found no words to say it!

I cannot reason; I can only feel!

But thou hast language for all thoughts and
feelings.

Thou art a scholar; and sometimes I think
We cannot walk together in this world!
The distance that divides us is too great!
Henceforth thy pathway lies among the stars;
I must not hold thee back.

VICTORIAN.

Thou little sceptic! Dost thou still doubt? What I most prize in

woman

Is her affection, not her intellect:

The intellect is finite; but the affections

Are infinite, and cannot be exhausted.
Compare me with the great men of the earth;
What am I? Why, a pigmy among giants!
But if thou lovest,-mark me! I say lovest,-~
The greatest of thy sex excels thee not!
The world of the affections is thy world,
Not that of man's ambition. In that stillness
Which most becomes a woman, calm and holy,
Thou sittest by the fireside of the heart,
Feeding its flame. The element of fire'

Is pure. It cannot change nor hide its nature,
But burns as brightly in a Gipsy camp

As in a palace hall. Art thou convinced? PRECIOSA. Yes, that I love thee, as the good love heaven,

But not that I am worthy of that heaven.
How shall I more deserve it?

VICTORIAN.

Loving more. PRECIOSA. I cannot love thee more; my heart is

full.

VICTORIAN.-Then let it overflow, and I will drink it, As in the summer-time the thirsty sands

Ave Maria

Drink the swift waters of a mountain torrent, And still do thirst for more. A WATCHMAN (in the street).— Purissima! 'Tis milnight, and serene! VICTORIAN.-Hearst thou that cry? PRECIOSA.

To scare thee from me!

VICTORIAN.

It is a hateful sound,

As the hunter's horn

Doth scare the timid stag, or bark of hounds
The moor-fowl from his mate.

PRECIOSA.

Pray, do not go!

Fear not!

VICTORIAN.-I must away to Alcalá to-night.
Think of me when I am away.

PRECIOSA.

I have no thoughts that do not think of thee. VICTORIAN (giving her a ring).—And to remind thee of my love, take this;

A serpent, emblem of Eternity;

A ruby, say, a drop of my heart's blood.

PRECIOSA. It is an ancient saying, that the ruby
Brings gladness to the wearer, and preserves
The heart pure, and, if laid beneath the pillow,
Drives away evil dreams. But then, alas!
It was a serpent tempted Eve to sin.
VICTORIAN.-What convent of barefooted Car-
melites

Taught thee so much theology?

PRECIOSA (laying her hand upon his mouth).-Hush! Hush!

Good-night! and may all holy angels guard thee!

VICTORIAN.-Good-night! good-night! Thou art my guardian angel!

I have no other saint than thou to pray to! (He descends by the balcony.)

PRECIOSA. Take care, and do not hurt thee. Art thou safe?

VICTORIAN (from the garden).-Safe as my love for thee! But art thou safe?

Others can climb a balcony by moonlight As well as I. Pray, shut thy window close; I am jealous of the perfumed air of night That from this garden climbs to kiss thy lips. PRECIOSA (throwing down her handkerchief).—Thou silly child! Take this to blind thine eyes.

It is my benison !

VICTORIAN.

And brings to me Sweet fragrance from thy lips, as the soft wind Wafts to the outbound mariner the breath Of the beloved land he leaves behind. PRECIOSA.-Make not thy voyage long. VICTORIAN.

To-morrow night

Good-night!

Shall see me safe returned. Thou art the star
To guide me to an anchorage.
My beauteous star! My star

night!

PRECIOSA.-Good-night!

of love, good

WATCHMAN (at a distance).—Ave Maria Purissima!