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manuscript parts in the favourite operas。  He paused; and;

summoning courage; tapped at the door which seemed to lead into

the inner apartment。  The door was ajar; and; hearing no sound

within; he pushed it open。  It was the sleeping…chamber of the

young actress; that holiest ground to a lover; and well did the

place become the presiding deity:  none of the tawdry finery of

the profession was visible; on the one hand; none of the slovenly

disorder common to the humbler classes of the South; on the

other。  All was pure and simple; even the ornaments were those of

an innocent refinement;a few books; placed carefully on

shelves; a few half…faded flowers in an earthen vase; which was

modelled and painted in the Etruscan fashion。  The sunlight

streamed over the snowy draperies of the bed; and a few articles

of clothing on the chair beside it。  Viola was not there; but the

nurse!was she gone also?  He made the house resound with the

name of Gionetta; but there was not even an echo to reply。  At

last; as he reluctantly quitted the desolate abode; he perceived

Gionetta coming towards him from the street。



The poor old woman uttered an exclamation of joy on seeing him;

but; to their mutual disappointment; neither had any cheerful

tidings or satisfactory explanation to afford the other。

Gionetta had been aroused from her slumber the night before by

the noise in the rooms below; but ere she could muster courage to

descend; Viola was gone!  She found the marks of violence on the

door without; and all she had since been able to learn in the

neighbourhood was; that a Lazzarone; from his nocturnal resting…

place on the Chiaja; had seen by the moonlight a carriage; which

he recognised as belonging to the Prince di ; pass and repass

that road about the first hour of morning。  Glyndon; on gathering

from the confused words and broken sobs of the old nurse the

heads of this account; abruptly left her; and repaired to the

palace of Zanoni。 There he was informed that the signor was gone

to the banquet of the Prince di ; and would not return till

late。  Glyndon stood motionless with perplexity and dismay; he

knew not what to believe; or how to act。  Even Mervale was not at

hand to advise him。  His conscience smote him bitterly。  He had

had the power to save the woman he had loved; and had foregone

that power; but how was it that in this Zanoni himself had

failed?  How was it that he was gone to the very banquet of the

ravisher?  Could Zanoni be aware of what had passed?  If not;

should he lose a moment in apprising him?  Though mentally

irresolute; no man was more physically brave。  He would repair at

once to the palace of the prince himself; and if Zanoni failed in

the trust he had half…appeared to arrogate; he; the humble

foreigner; would demand the captive of fraud and force; in the

very halls and before the assembled guests of the Prince di 。





CHAPTER 3。XVI。



Ardua vallatur duris sapientia scrupis。

Hadr。 Jun。; 〃Emblem。〃 xxxvii。



(Lofty wisdom is circled round with rugged rocks。)



We must go back some hours in the progress of this narrative。  It

was the first faint and gradual break of the summer dawn; and two

men stood in a balcony overhanging a garden fragrant with the

scents of the awakening flowers。  The stars had not yet left the

sky;the birds were yet silent on the boughs:  all was still;

hushed; and tranquil; but how different the tranquillity of

reviving day from the solemn repose of night!  In the music of

silence there are a thousand variations。  These men; who alone

seemed awake in Naples; were Zanoni and the mysterious stranger

who had but an hour or two ago startled the Prince di  in his

voluptuous palace。



〃No;〃 said the latter; 〃hadst thou delayed the acceptance of the

Arch…gift until thou hadst attained to the years; and passed

through all the desolate bereavements that chilled and seared

myself ere my researches had made it mine; thou wouldst have

escaped the curse of which thou complainest now;thou wouldst

not have mourned over the brevity of human affection as compared

to the duration of thine own existence; for thou wouldst have

survived the very desire and dream of the love of woman。

Brightest; and; but for that error; perhaps the loftiest; of the

secret and solemn race that fills up the interval in creation

between mankind and the children of the Empyreal; age after age

wilt thou rue the splendid folly which made thee ask to carry the

beauty and the passions of youth into the dreary grandeur of

earthly immortality。〃



〃I do not repent; nor shall I;〃 answered Zanoni。  〃The transport

and the sorrow; so wildly blended; which have at intervals

diversified my doom; are better than the calm and bloodless tenor

of thy solitary waythou; who lovest nothing; hatest nothing;

feelest nothing; and walkest the world with the noiseless and

joyless footsteps of a dream!〃



〃You mistake;〃 replied he who had owned the name of Mejnour;

〃though I care not for love; and am dead to every PASSION that

agitates the sons of clay; I am not dead to their more serene

enjoyments。  I carry down the stream of the countless years; not

the turbulent desires of youth; but the calm and spiritual

delights of age。  Wisely and deliberately I abandoned youth

forever when I separated my lot from men。  Let us not envy or

reproach each other。  I would have saved this Neapolitan; Zanoni

(since so it now pleases thee to be called); partly because his

grandsire was but divided by the last airy barrier from our own

brotherhood; partly because I know that in the man himself lurk

the elements of ancestral courage and power; which in earlier

life would have fitted him for one of us。  Earth holds but few to

whom Nature has given the qualities that can bear the ordeal。

But time and excess; that have quickened his grosser senses; have

blunted his imagination。  I relinquish him to his doom。〃



〃And still; then; Mejnour; you cherish the desire to revive our

order; limited now to ourselves alone; by new converts and

allies。  Surelysurelythy experience might have taught thee;

that scarcely once in a thousand years is born the being who can

pass through the horrible gates that lead into the worlds

without!  Is not thy path already strewed with thy victims?  Do

not their ghastly faces of agony and fearthe blood…stained

suicide; the raving maniacrise before thee; and warn what is

yet left to thee of human sympathy from thy insane ambition?〃



〃Nay;〃 answered Mejnour; 〃have I not had success to

counterbalance failure?  And can I forego this lofty and august

hope; worthy alone of our high condition;the hope to form a

mighty and numerous race with a force and power sufficient to

permit them to acknowledge to mankind their majestic conquests

and dominion; to become the true lords of this planet; invaders;

perchance; of others; masters of the inimical and malignant

tribes by which at this moment we are surrounded:  a race that

may proceed; in their deathless destinies; from stage to stage of

celestial glory; and rank at last amongst the nearest ministrants

and agents gathered round the Throne of Thrones?  What matter a

thousand victims for one convert to our band?  And you; Zanoni;〃

continued Mejnour; after a pause;〃you; even you; should this

affection for a mortal beauty that you have dared; despite

yourself; to cherish; be more than a passing fancy; should it;

once admitted into your inmost nature; partake of its bright and

enduring essence;even you may brave all things to raise the

beloved one into your equal。  Nay; interrupt me not。  Can you see

sickness menace her; danger hover around; years creep on; the

eyes grow dim; the beauty fade; while the heart; youthful still;

clings and fastens round your own;can you see this; and know it

is yours to〃



〃Cease!〃 cried Zanoni; fiercely。  〃What is all other fate as

compared to the death of terror?  What; when the coldest sage;

the mo

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