-not to destroy her love for him,--of the futility of such an
attempt I was aware,--but to modify the cold, desperate, and resentful
feeling of disappointment she entertained; to superimpose upon her
thwarted passion, which would continue to regard him as a hero of
romance, another condition of feeling, that should bring him before her
in a different aspect, and to rouse her listlessness by suggesting
something to be done which should be connected with him,--the only
incentive, I was assured, sufficiently powerful to stimulate her to
action. I had a patient whom I intended to treat in the most delicate
and scientific manner. I determined to appeal to her benevolence,--a
feeling which, though latent, always exists in a true woman. My
disconsolate hero of romance was to be brought down and made a mortal,
capable of receiving favors. Instead of being the object of love, he was
to become one of charity.

'My dear,' said I, one evening, with a suppressed yawn, as I was
perusing a magazine, 'I have been reading a stupid account of the
pictures and statues, and so on, in Florence. These things are very
fine, doubtless, to those who understand and appreciate them. My early
education in aesthetics was neglected; or rather the hard necessities of
my youth allowed me no opportunity to cultivate them. But it is a good
thing to encourage art, and I have been thinking it might be well for us
to have some paintings and statuary. If I attempt to select them I shall
be tricked and bamboozled into purchasing mere daubs and botches. Would
it not be well to engage some person of judgment--perhaps an artist--to
go to Italy and make an investment for us? I know none such, but you
have been more associated with artists, and if you can secure one, I
will give him _carte blanche_. Will you please make some inquiries?'

I had kept my eyes on the magazine, but felt that she was looking at me
with scrutinizing glances. Had she suspected my knowledge of her love,
she would probably--with some of that passion of which I had been a
secret witness--have declared the whole matter, and then, with scornful
upbraidings of my hypocrisy, perhaps have left me forever. I was careful
to avoid any such premature explosion, and with another yawn continued
carelessly turning the leaves of the magazine. Reassured, she replied
that she would undertake the business. With a hasty glance, through
apparently sleepy eyes, I saw that I had roused her,--that she was
alre