gone before; and whilst he thus
piteously gazed on Pauline, he was seized in such wise by the fire which
he had considered well-nigh quelled, that whilst striving to conceal it
more than was in his power, he fell at full length before her. However,
for fear lest the cause of his fall should be known, he was led to say
that it was by reason of the pavement of the church being broken in that
place.

When Pauline perceived that the change in his dress had not wrought any
change in his heart, and that so long a time had gone by since he had
become a monk, that every one believed her to have forgotten him, she
resolved to fulfil the desire she had conceived to bring their love to
a like ending in respect of raiment, condition and mode of life, even
as these had been akin at the time when they abode together in the
same house, under the same master and mistress. More than four months
previously she had carried out all needful measures for taking the veil,
and now, one morning she asked leave of the Marchioness to go and hear
mass at the convent of Saint Clara, (5) which her mistress granted her,
not knowing the reason of her request. But in passing by the monastery
of the Grey Friars, she begged the Warden to summon her lover, saying
that he was her kinsman, and when they met in a chapel by themselves,
she said to him:--

5 There does not appear to have been a church of St. Clara
at Mantua, but there was one attached to a convent of that
name at Ferrara.--M. and D.

"Had my honour suffered me to seek the cloister as soon as you, I should
not have waited until now; but having at last by my patience baffled
the slander of those who are more ready to think evil than good, I am
resolved to take the same condition, raiment and life as you have taken.
Nor do I inquire of what manner they are; if you fare well, I shall
partake of your welfare, and if you fare ill, I would not be exempt. By
whatsoever path you are journeying to Paradise I too would follow; for I
feel sure that He who alone is true and perfect, and worthy to be called
Love, has drawn us to His service by means of a virtuous and reasonable
affection, which He will by His Holy Spirit turn wholly to Himself. Let
us both, I pray you, put from us the perishable body of the old Adam,
and receive and put on the body of our true Spouse, who is the Lord
Jesus Christ."

The monk-lover was so rejoiced to hear of this holy purpose, that he
wept for gladness a