The
grand crisis of his cousin's fortunes had enabled him to become
intimate with the more secret and serious qualities of Venetia, and
from that moment he had taken the deepest interest in everything
connected with her. His happy and unexpected meeting in Italy had
completed the spell; and now that he was about to leave them,
uncertain even if they should ever meet again, his soft heart
trembled, and he could scarcely refrain from tears as he pressed their
hands, and bade them his sincere adieus.
The moon had risen, ere he entered his boat, and flung a rippling line
of glittering light on the bosom of the lake. The sky was without a
cloud, save a few thin fleecy vapours that hovered over the azure brow
of a distant mountain. The shores of the lake were suffused with the
serene effulgence, and every object was so distinct, that the eye was
pained by the lights of the villages, that every instant became more
numerous and vivid. The bell of a small chapel on the opposite shore,
and the distant chant of some fishermen still working at their nets,
were the only sounds that broke the silence which they did not
disturb. Reclined in his boat, George Cadurcis watched the vanishing
villa of the Herberts, until the light in the principal chamber was
the only sign that assured him of its site.
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