A Jay of Italy

our dating from their start, not a word would Madam Beatrice utter. Then she

man, Saint. I am near

ne arms

m not hol

t again, for

te bangs

e held her peace

you to pla

hers. What would it pr

he was a good master t

gosp

rldly-wise for a saint. Hast eve

cour

ethinks is the right nurse for such a cre

id n

that to b

oe fits, let

Where got y

t fit,

'twas in so

ad dropped i

er lon

got you the shoe, I say? An eavesdr

o eaves

lighten

cici

that

devil's policy to

rter

had hea

Besides, Messer Lanti's summer lodge is

ow in what high favour h

ve compassed Uriah's

and the

you mean

he Count of

ldier, and

ith his age in th

o, I am ve

forget thyself, an

st his shoulder. Messer Lanti, falling back, saw her thus, with c

er, Parablist? Ar

with a discontented look,

Bernardino; and what hypocrites, de

ot what y

saints, then

lays down this wine of sanctity to mature. In a

seventeen. Will you s

ke a de

r father,

the father

s a strange father, methinks, to bid his Benj

ot discount

t vo

the heavens, and lowered them again

velvet mantlet and roses to thy shoes?'

es the Pilgrim of Love,"' answered Bembo. 'As I am

ather Abbo

, "Christ bequeathed H

it? I think I will be

so, Ma

y, and made her a little

n Father Abbot, I had put th

eat ends with little instruments. The puny bee is yet the very fairy m

ve saved oth

do you

l you sing me anothe

what subject? The wom

and whom Chr

: "Go, and s

n to wee

d for a little thing. I would

sig

t to remain a pander to his flowers! To dup hell's door with a re

service of Love,

s to interpret that word according to their lusts. Convert Galeazzo? Con

hy am I

ss him is to taste the rack, the fire, the living burial. He is possessed. Some believe him Caligula reincarnate-an atavism of that dreadful st

I shall not be let to perish, since Chri

quiet and holy. The breed of German bandits, of foreign mercenaries, was swept away. Gone was the whole warring race of the Visconti, and in its place the peasant Sforza had set a guard about the land of his fierce adoption, that he might till and graft and prosper in peace. Italy had asserted itself the inheritance of its children, the Court of God's Vice

g rocks; and a little stream, running down a stairway of stones, dropped laughing, like a child going to bed, into the quiet of a rus

e pitched on the grass. Then, with a stormy scowl and

do not show thy saint to be a petticoat,

said, amazed

und hi

his pink chee

coldly, 'I am liker, than if

honours with that title'; and he strode away, calling r

,' said the boy, 's

of their falcons-partridges, served in their own feathers, and stuffed with artichokes and truffles-was tough; the pears and peaches were sour; the confetti savourless and of stale design. He rated his cook, cursed his serv

oth he, 'that already w

of his sigh. Her eyes were soft with wine and passion. She had no prec

in thy hands, pretty saint. Shalt confess m

led light as

wooingly, 'sith the cloud is gone from

lowly slung round his lute, and, touching the stri

do you ask, false

ot speak

nd stealing

, dropping li

eless be

t, false love

, what sha

hear the bu

s flake in th

et else w

lent, not from

love know

oft-footed,

ove, but co

s that God

a lock of her own hair. The frown of outraged passion w

that, in its girlish tenderness, its earnest emotionalism, it was not the most dangerous method of all? Not every adulterous woman is fit to meet the gen

quietly; 'for shame!

with a frozen,

tear in all the

e trees. It startled her for a moment, and in that moment he was gone, str

sed; 'Carlo! fol

blade. His teeth grinned in the white glow. He saun

truck his hilt lightly. 'This I dedicate to his service f

aughing, not f

y confessor, woman. Wert ne

er discomfiture. He might have spitted the seduced on a point o

low, roistering camp pitched at a respectful distance beyon

Already my young footsteps are warned of the bitter pass to come. Be

eam of clouds, seemed to his excited imagination the very boat which awaited

e,' he cried

d looked round and up to find the

g where he stood. 'Lord save me too! I

y sigh. 'Exultate Deo adjutori nos

onfronted the fuddled wrinkles

od is dull of hearing, when, on the echo of my

ed his own lean right paw, and s

-meaning thi

o no

e service I was able to render thee th

grass in a sudden inspiration, and so brought his wi

and save me?' he said

ion with an epigram, made a desperate effort

is the wet-nurse to all valour. I walked but out of the furnace a

s face working and twi

ate,' said he. 'From what has

Bembo, 'into which he had ent

fell a-

ymn, and behold! he was chasing the deer before he had fingered the first stops.

, d

confuted with t

dear

y wife be kind to he

ould be unkin

ed his head, his

and lo! it is over thy ears. Will you come out, good

the wrinkled hands

your heart the whiles you mock? Do you not lov

startled the harsh

uttered, 'than to warn thee back from

me to the nest. How shall he ever fly that fears to quit it? Be

t his breath i

mothe

ed to cross his face

were a worthy parent to hold

. 'Do I not know what wit goes to the acting of folly-what experience

wh

ganda to gover

a child, with

e been warned; di

ly, wonder of wonders! he was grovelling at the other's knees,

ried, 'what saint that cla

'no saint, but a chi

' cried Cicada, 'and Foll

n ecstasy, then all in a moment

'Be thou the divine f

embo caught the Fool's

h, 'but see that thy hand on mine be steady, lest

rascal had all this time been sighting his bow.

at very st

ered; then of a sudden:

that thou wouldst justify thys

ho but God would consort with Folly

here is no Chastity

away, and slunk crouch

Who has borne me through these passes, stood by me in pain and madness, dulled the bitter tooth of shame while

embo, 'then am

a moment the Fool had flung h

kingdom of dreams, to bury me in the everlasting ice! I will follow thee in all else, humbly and adoringly; I will try to vindicate this

g, and laid one hand s

an, and my head sinks beneath the waters. Tired am I, and fain to go rest my h

on his knees, caught his hands

scarlet woman! Go rest thyself-not there-but in peace. From this moment

g, like a wounded s

ly to the queen of night. The pious rogue was quite happy in his