had been casually mentioned once or twice in her hear
ing as a gentleman of high rank in Madrid, but who had
spent of late some years abroad. He might be old and
ugly for all she knew to the contrary ; and his very
name sounded as if it belonged to a cross and stupid old
bachelor.
"What care I for his state and importance ?" she exclaimed, pettishly, as these words recurred to her mind, " I could not love him if he were made of gold and jewels !" Nor could she have loved him while her heart was pre-occupied by the graceful image of another-that of her mysterious serenader ; whom, however, she had not seen since that eventful evening of his first appearance. This seemed very strange to her, as she nightly watched eager and anxiously hour after hour for his dearly anticipated reappearance ; but in vain. She felt it indeed singular, yet she could not believe that such a noble looking gentleman would play falsely merely to deceive a simple maiden- kindling an undying flame in her bosom, and then vanishing as mysteriously as he came, leaving it to rage and consume her heart unheeded. Some accident must full surely have befallen him, or he would have sought an interview with her long before ;and she wept with deep anguish at the thought. But whether " Velasco" came or not, she was fully resolved to oppose her tyrannical guardian's plan, even though the laws of her country might leave her no alternative between a compliance with his wishes and a living burial within a convent's walls, if he chose to enforce her marriage before she was free from his control. She rightly deemed that he had sinister views in thus contracting her without her own consent, and to an utter stranger ; for he shrewdly inferred that the magnificent Don, from the immensity of his own wealth, would be more than likely to overlook some few discrepancies which had occurred in the management of his ward's estate, either through negligence or design on his part. However, he said nothing further to her upon the subject, knowing that it would but increase the evident antipathy she felt towards the match ; while the Don himself could perhaps better second his efforts, when he arrived, by the splendor and pomp of his state - and a very little gentle enforcement, if the necessity of the case should strongly demand such proceeding. Yet he deemed it proper to inform him that his ward manifested a slight reluctance in agreeing to such a sudden proposition, from being doubtless a little piqued that he had not addressed her at the first. Still that gentleman's reply expressed no discouragement ; but rather increased ardor, as if her maiden spirit raised her worth in his estimation, and he was therefore resolved to win her if possible.
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that the Dona sat in her chamber with her spirits weighed down by the most gloomy reflections. She had given up all hope of ever seeing " Velasco" again ; and yet she could not banish from her heart the lasting impression that his manly beauty, assisted by the romance attached to his actions-had made upon it. In the fervid clime of Spain love does not require years of sunshine and showers to arrive at maturity. It is there in her verdant fields, amidst orange groves and rosy bowers, a flower of magic growth, and requires neither care or attendance ; but springs at once into bloom, seeking its own nourishment of the soil from whence it takes its life. From sad imaginings with regard to the stranger who was the object of her affections, her thoughts reverted with loathing to the still stranger person, who was equally the object of her abhorrence ; and with whom her guardian would heartlessly force her to wed, if she did not take some decided step to thwart his purpose. Though she had not yet determined upon any definite plan of proceeding, she was fully resolved that the haughty Don should not even see her when he did arrive, and he might return again to Madrid, if he chose, as wise as he came, and quite as empty, for all he was likely to gain of her. While thus sitting and revolving in her mind the woes that afflicted her soul, she heard, as she imagined, the same tinkling notes which had sounded so sweet to her enraptured ears upon the night when " Velasco" sung to her of his admiration and love. Rushing to the window to assure herself, she saw him floating gently by; and, carried away with the enthusiastic transport of her feelings she waved her hand toward him in greeting, | while her throbbing heart swelled full with delight. He kissed his in return, and then , signifying by a gesture that they might not speak through fear of being overheard, he approached toward the shore, and tossed a letter attached to a pebble, into her apartment. Catching it eagerly up, she read by the light of a taper its contents ; and then, with an almost overpowering feeling of joy, she returned to the window and waved him her unhesitating consent to the proposition contained within ; while he passed silently away, wafting kisses toward her until lost to view in the obscurity of night. The letter was signed the same as his previous message to her, with the simple word Velasco !" but its contents informed her that he was a gentleman of birth and station in life ; and that having accidentally seen her one day in the villa, he had from that moment loved her with devoted ardor : yet he had been compelled to leave for Madrid at an early hour the next morning, and it was not then possible to seek an interview other than the serenade to which she listened one evening a few weeks previous. And now he deemed it too late It was on the evening previous to the day when the for such unless she would consent to fly with him and presumptuous suitor to her hand was expected to arrive, thus avoid the union which her guardian wished to
