thout springs, was as comfortable and luxurious a
carriage as the art of that day could produce; nor was there one in Rome,
with the exception of those kept for public use in the sacred processions,
that could excel that of the rich and elegant Hortensia.

The pannels were beautifully painted, and the arched top or tilt supported
by gilded caryatides at the four corners. Its curtains and cushions were
of fine purple cloth; and altogether, though far less convenient, it was a
much gayer and more sumptuous looking vehicle than the perfection of
modern coach building.

The ladies were both waiting in the atrium, when the young man dismounted
from his car; and never had his Julia, he thought, looked more lovely than
she did this morning, with the redundant masses of her rich hair confined
by a net of green and gold, and a rich _pallium_, or shawl of the same
colors, gracefully draped over her snowy stola, and indicating by the soft
sweep of its outlines the beauties of a figure, which it might veil but
could not conceal.

Joyously, in the frank openness of her pure nature, she sprung forward to
meet him, with both her fair hands extended, and the ingenuous blood
rising faintly to her pale cheeks.

"Dear, dearest Paul--I am so happy, so rejoiced to see you."

Nothing could be more tender, more affectionate, than all her air, her
words, her manner. Love flashed from her bright eyes irrepressible, played
in the dimples of her smiling mouth, breathed audible in every tone of her
soft silvery voice. Yet was there nothing that the gravest and most rigid
censor could have wished otherwise--nothing that he could have pronounced,
even for a moment, too warm, or too free for the bearing of the chariest
maiden.

The very artlessness of her emotions bore evidence to their purity, their
holiness. She was rejoiced to see her permitted lover, she felt no shame
in that emotion of chaste joy, and would no more have dreamed of
concealing it from him whom she loved so devotedly, than of masking her
devotion to the Gods under a veil of indifference or coldness.

Here was the very charm of her demeanor, as here was the difference
between her manner, and that of her rival Lucia.

In Julia, every thought that sprang from her heart, was uttered by her
lips in frank and fearless innocence; she had no thought she was ashamed
of, no wish she feared to utter. Her clear bright eyes dwelt unabashed and
fondly on the face of him she loved; and no