cay, his manners, his dress, his religion, even himself altogether changed, yet nature, the bright, the universal, remains the same and unto this day, "The same mild season gives the blooms to blow, But though Corfu was lovely and interesting, Charles was inclined to hurry on. Wherever he turned his eyes, there were few so happy as himself. But this had a different effect on him from what might have been expected; for when he considered his own happiness, and compared it with the portion generally allotted to humanity, he could scarcely believe it would last. He was always afraid that something should snatch Mary from him, and was the more anxious to bind her to himself by ties that could not be broken. CHAP CHAPTER V. What will ye next ordain, ye powers on high, The Captivity. It happens nine times out of ten, that when we have plenty of time to spare, we see nothing; but when we have scarcely time to see any thing, we see every thing. Lady Anne Milsome, who acted as supreme director of the party lord Burton had quitted, had lately begun to enter very heartily into Charles's plan of returning to England as soon as possible; and agreed entirely with Mary in the wish to rejoin Frederic. But having come as far as Corfu, they felt ashamed to return without having seen the rest of the islands; and, i and, in consequence, hurried from one to the other, collecting all the knowledge they could in the short space they had determined to remain. Their first trip was to Paxo, a little island in the vicinity, but thinly inhabited, with nothing particular to please the eye, or interest the imagination. But the next they visited, St. Maura, the ancient Leucadia, with the rich luxuriance of all its productions, offered a scene of profusion seldom to be witnessed; while its proximity to the continent appeared such, that one might have fancied they could stretch out their hand and touch Achäia. Going on, they came to Cephalonia, a rich and fertile island; and here Charles found remembrances crowd upon him in confusing variety. On one side lay Ithaca, and of course with it came the ideas of Ulysses and Penelope, the suitors, and Homer; and by a second train, Telemachus, and Mentor, and Fenelon. On the other side appeared the Achäian shores, enough of themselves to contribute contribute a thousand thoughts of the past, the present, and the future; and before him lay the Gulf of Lepanto, conju. ring up Selim and Hali, the heroic, but unfortunate don John of Austria, with the equally brave, unfortunate, and talented Cervantes. Not being able to proceed as far as Cythera, or Cerigo, as it is called now, (lady Anne, for reasons best known to herself, objecting strongly to visiting the isle of love,) Charles and Mary were obliged to make Cephalonia their climax, and without visiting Zante, returned to Corfu, where they were luckily able to hire a vessel to convey them to Trieste; but there were three days yet before it could set off. Nor was lady Anne sorry for the delay, as, at her age, the rapidity of travelling, which suited her young companions very well, was more than she could bear. In their excursions at Naples, when lady Anne had not been able to accompany them, Charles had often succeeded in obVOL. III. taining F taining Mary for his companion alone, though this had generally, sooner or later, called down a lecture concerning impropriety, &c. In the present instance, Mr. Melville proposed to fill up the time till their departure with his favourite parties on the water; and lady Anne, who did not choose to own herself overcome by the fatigues they had not felt at all, seemed to have laid aside the precise strictness of her ideas, and did not see any reason why Mary should not accompany her cousin, though, for her own part, she was not fond of the water. Charles, of course, was not likely to see any impropriety either; and Mary, whose confidence in him was unlimited, started no objection; and the next day was accordingly fixed upon for a sail along the shores of Greece. The day came bright and sunny, with just enough wind to carry their boat gaily over the small waves that danced playfully around, as if sporting in the morning |