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sequence of these lectures was, I found it possible I might in time obtain a place in her affections, and this hope begat the love which she rather foresaw than discovered. At last I took courage, and pressed Prudina for an explanation, and she owned she herself had fallen into the snares she had counselled me to avoid.
Enchanted with my good fortune, I spoke of marriage; but Prudina declared she would not wed, till she had first had proofs of my constaney; promising, at the same time, to give no one the least item of the hopes she indulged me in. She spoke highly of the charms of secrecy, and as bragging was not my foible, she easily obtained all she asked on that head, and our mutual good understanding was wholly unknown to all.
One evening as, enveloped in a cloud, I traversed the air toward the palace of Prudina, I heard cries so grievous, that pity obliged me to stop. I beheld a cavalcade of horses and carriages, with a multitude of slaves bearing flambeaux, and in the midst of this multitude a young man of exquisite beauty,
B 3
