Page:The Clergyman's Wife.djvu/64

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62
The Sculptor's Triumph.

Though he and Constanza often met, it was never again in secret, and Andrea breathed no word of love into the maiden's ear. Time tested, and forbearance strengthened, their affection. Andrea's powers as a sculptor kept steady pace with his ambition. In a few years he won renown, and, with it, a richer guerdon, for the Duke bestowed upon him the hand of his daughter. But this dearest triumph was wrought, not by the fame which crowned his genius, but by the glorious victory he had gained over himself.