Page:Stories from Old English Poetry-1899.djvu/233

Rh This done, they set sail for Belmont; Bassanio and Gratiano in one ship, and Portia and Nerissa in another. The latter pair managed, however, to reach Belmont first, and arrived shortly after nightfall, some hours before their husbands. They found Lorenzo and Jessica awaiting them in the moonlit gardens at Belmont, where they sat listening to the music from the palace which floated in softened strains in and out among the trees and fountains in the court-yard.

A few hours later the travel-worn husbands arrived, accompanied by Antonio, and were tenderly welcomed by their ladies and fully questioned as to the results of the trial. In the midst of the conversation the mischievous Nerissa discerned the loss of the ring from Gratiano’s finger, and commenced to accuse him of some inconstancy in parting with it. Portia overheard them disputing on the matter, and when Gratiano commenced to make confession, she blamed him much for parting with his wife’s keepsake, and declared that Bassanio would not so lightly have parted with her love-token. At this Bassanio, unable to conceal his embarrassment, commenced to explain, as eloquently as he could, how both Gratiano and himself had been induced to part so with these rings which had been so stuck with oaths upon their fingers. Portia pretended to be deaf to his excuses, and joining with