ain such partiality for a young man unknown to
her, who was not worthy to excite the sentiments she had described. She
replied, still whispering, but lifting her eyes a little, that she had
told the simple truth. Her heart had first been touched when she saw me
play the part of Luce, the _soubrette_, in the theatre. Afterwards,
while watching me on the pallone-ground, this impression had been
deepened. I listened with some repulsion to the motives of her passion,
nor could I refrain from answering, with a laugh: "Surely modest girls
are taken by the mental gifts and sterling qualities of a young man, not
by such follies as you deign to mention." She dropped her fine eyes,
mortified by this home-thrust. Then she replied with a finesse I hardly
expected from a Dalmatian: "You cannot deny that public exploits,
universally applauded, in a young man, have some right to impress a
girl's imagination. I could indeed have defended my heart against these
promptings, if your person had not pleased me; if you had not shown
yourself in private to be governed by principles of modesty, sobriety,
and prudence; if the whole city were not edified by your behaviour, and
ringing with perpetual eulogies of conduct rare indeed among those
madcap fellows of the garrison. These reports confirmed my passion; and
if now I find it scorned by you, I know not to what extremities despair
will drive me." This speech flattered my _amour propre_. Tears, which
she attempted to conceal, fell from her fine eyes, and stirred my
sensibility. The beauty of the little devil had bewitched me. However, I
summoned reason to my aid, and replied with gentle calmness: "Dear lady,
I should be a monster if I were not grateful to you for your kind and
precious sentiments. Still I am only a lad, dependent on my family,
without the resources of fortune. Unable as I am to think of marriage, I
should injure you and should commit a dishonourable action were I to
frequent your society. The tenderness, which I feel only too deeply for
you, might lead me also on my own side into some disaster. Precisely
because I love you, it is my duty to shrink from anything which could be
hurtful to you; and because you love me, it is your duty to shun what
might prove disastrous to myself. Do not be hurt by what I have to say.
I shall not cease to cherish in my breast an ardent affection for
yourself; but from this hour forward I must avoid all opportunities of
being in your company, not le