Page:Francesca Carrara 2.pdf/142

Rh sealed, and despatched by his page to her nurse, who had been their confidante. Once or twice some misgivings passed across his mind, but they were lost in the idea of his rivals, and the image of the blue-eyed heiress who awaited his coming in England. Besides, the hurry of preparations for departure were enough to distract any one's attention. Some of the young nobles of Padua came in to breakfast, and two declared they should see him on his journey—they wanted an excursion of a few days. No fear, therefore, that, suddenly deprived of companionship, he should feel dull, and that dulness might take the shape of remorse; so repent, return, and be forgiven. Yet his brow darkened as he whispered, 'You will write to me, Arden?' But five minutes more, and he and his friends were riding full gallop down the sunny road that led from Padua; and the sound of their loud laughter came on the air.

"And was it for the brief enjoyment of one like Avonleigh that my whole life was sacrificed? Why should fate in all things give him the mastery over me? I knew not at that moment whether I most loved or hated Beatrice. I thought of her wretchedness, and pitied not; but I wished to see it. Would she yield to her despair? and, so childlike, would she weep as a child? Or would