Page:Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz (1862).djvu/141

 forget her, and named a day on which he could come to her in a garden, that she might meet him, relate orally herself what had happened, and how it had all happened, and gaze upon him as her lost lover, assuring him, lest he should be afraid, that she would manage it so well that he need not fear any danger. The poor young man allowed himself to be persuaded, and was found on the appointed day at the destined place alone. The lady did not long delay coming into the garden, and having first had a green tent pitched, dismissed all her maids to walk where they liked, keeping with her a single faithful confidante. When her former lover came into the tent, she told him all with tears, and begged him not to take it ill, promising to provide him with money and everything in her power, and never to forget him.

Such secret meetings on their part lasted half-a-year; but fortune, who is never constant, grudged them their happiness. He, receiving pecuniary assistance from her, used to go about splendidly dressed, to the admiration of all beholders, for he was well-made, and tall of stature, and being about twenty-four years old, boasted such beauty that nowhere in the country was a handsomer young man to be found. He was also strong in wrestling, and so good in leaping and running that his equal was not easily found; and he was, therefore, beloved not only by the Christian, but also by the Turkish youth. Having several times acted carelessly on these expeditions, he was seen by some one as he entered the chiaous’s garden. This being made known confidentially to the chiaous, he, as became a wealthy dignitary, promised to give large presents to the person who should give him information when the Christian