breathless. 'Miss Herbert's fur cloak, my lady; you told me to
remember, my lady, and I cannot think how I forgot it. But I really
have been so very hot all day, that such a thing as furs never entered
my head. And for my part, until I travelled, I always thought furs
were only worn in Russia. But live and learn, as I say.'

They were now fairly floating on the calm, clear waters, and the
rising breeze was as grateful to Venetia as the boatmen had imagined.

A return of those symptoms which had before disquieted Lady Annabel
for her daughter, and which were formerly the cause of their residence
at Weymouth, had induced her, in compliance with the advice of her
physicians, to visit Italy; but the fatigue of travel had exhausted
the energies of Venetia (for in those days the Alps were not passed in
luxurious travelling carriages) on the very threshold of the promised
land; and Lady Annabel had been prevailed upon to take a villa on the
Lago Maggiore, where Venetia had passed two months, still suffering
indeed from great debility, but not without advantage.

There are few spots more favoured by nature than the Italian lakes and
their vicinity, combining, as they do, the most sublime features
of mountainous scenery with all the softer beauties and the varied
luxuriance of the plain. As the still, bright lake is to the rushing
and troubled cataract, is Italy to Switzerland and Savoy. Emerging
from the chaotic ravines and the wild gorges of the Alps, the happy
land breaks upon us like a beautiful vision. We revel in the sunny
light, after the unearthly glare of eternal snow. Our sight seems
renovated as we throw our eager glance over those golden plains,
clothed with such picturesque trees, sparkling with such graceful
villages, watered by such noble rivers, and crowned with such
magnificent cities; and all bathed and beaming in an atmosphere so
soft and radiant! Every isolated object charms us with its beautiful
novelty: for the first time we gaze on palaces; the garden, the
terrace, and the statue, recall our dreams beneath a colder sky;
and we turn from these to catch the hallowed form of some cupolaed
convent, crowning the gentle elevation of some green hill, and flanked
by the cypress or the pine.

The influence of all these delightful objects and of this benign
atmosphere on the frame and mind of Venetia had been considerable.
After the excitement of the last year of her life, and the harassing
and agitating scenes