Page:The genius - Carl Grosse tr Joseph Trapp 1796.djvu/8

 an old castle, too remote from the gay cities to attract the crowds of my gallant contemporaries. Shortly after my return from the fruitless expedition against Gibraltar, she came to Alcantara, decked out with all the charms of novelty, but at the same time with such fascinating endowments, as soon raised her above the splendor, and even the jealousy of every other female competitor. Beauty blended with kindness, wit heightened by the most endearing sprightliness, a heart glowing with sympathy, and challenging an eternal love—such were Elmira's enviable qualities. Nature seemed to have formed her at the most auspicious epoch, for each expression of her sentiments, the flightest motion of her body, bore the stamp of unrivalled gracefulness and matchless perfection. She received my addresses with that flattering candor, which doubles every pace, but keeps a lover confined, as it were, within the boundary from which he first started.

One evening I found her alone, fitting on a sopha, with a guitar on her lap one hand supported her head, the other was negligently