and, with her face between her hands, gazed
out upon the silent street. Gerald took his place at her side, and thus
they remained for some time without a word. A low, faint sigh at last
came from the girl, and, placing his arm around her, Gerald drew her
gently to him, murmuring softly in her ear:

'L'onda che mormora,
Tra sponda e sponda;
L'aura che tremola,
Tra fronda e fronda.
E meno instabile,
Del vostro cor.'

She never spoke, but, averting her head still farther from him, screened
herself from his view. At last a low, soft murmuring broke from her
lips, and she sang, in accents scarcely above her breath, one of those
little native songs she was so fond of. It was a wild but plaintive air,
sounding like the wayward cadences of one who left her fancy free to
give music to the verse, each stanza ending with the words:

'Non ho piu remi,
Non ho piu vele,
E al silo talento
Mi porta il mar.'

With a touching tenderness that thrilled through Gerald's heart she
sung, with many a faltering accent, and in a tremulous tone, the simple
words:

'In a lone, frail hark, forsaken,
I float on a nameless sea,
Nor care to what morrow I waken;
I drift where the waves bear me.

'I look not up to the starry sky,
For I have no course to run,
Nor eagerly wait, as the dawn draws nigh,
To watch for the rising sun.

'For noon is drear as the night to me,
To-day is as dark as to-morrow:
Forsaken, I float on the nameless sea,
To think and weep over my sorrow.*

'Oh, Marietta, if thou wouldst not wring my heart, do not sing that sad
air,' cried Gerald, pressing her tenderly to him. 'I bore it ill in our
happiest hours, when all went well and hopefully with us.'

'It bettor suits the present, then,' said she calmly; then added, with a
sudden energy--'at all events, it suits my humour!'

'Thou wouldst break with me, then, Marietta?' said Gerald, relaxing his
hold on her, and turning his eyes fully upon her face.

'Look down there,' cried she, pointing with her finger: 'that street
beneath us is narrow enough, but it has two exits: why shouldn't _you_
take one road, and _I_ the other?'

'Agreed: so be it, then!' said Gerald passionately, 'only remember,
this project never came from _me_.'

'If there be blame for it, I accept it all,' said she calmly. 'These
things come ever of caprice, and they go as they come. As yo