The day of the festival, so long and so impatiently looked for by

Julia, was now arrived. All the neighbouring nobility were invited,

and the gates of the castle were thrown open for a general rejoicing.

A magnificent entertainment, consisting of the most luxurious and

expensive dishes, was served in the halls. Soft music floated along

the vaulted roofs, the walls were hung with decorations, and it seemed

as if the hand of a magician had suddenly metamorphosed this once

gloomy fabric into the palace of a fairy. The marquis, notwithstanding

the gaiety of the scene, frequently appeared abstracted from its

enjoyments, and in spite of all his efforts at cheerfulness, the

melancholy of his heart was visible in his countenance.

In the evening there was a grand ball: the marchioness, who was still

distinguished for her beauty, and for the winning elegance of her

manners, appeared in the most splendid attire. Her hair was ornamented

with a profusion of jewels, but was so disposed as to give an air

rather of voluptuousness than of grace, to her figure.

Although conscious of her charms, she beheld the beauty of Emilia and Julia

with a jealous eye, and was compelled secretly to acknowledge, that

the simple elegance with which they were adorned, was more enchanting

than all the studied artifice of splendid decoration. They were

dressed alike in light Sicilian habits, and the beautiful luxuriance

of their flowing hair was restrained only by bandellets of pearl. The

ball was opened by Ferdinand and the lady Matilda Constanza. Emilia

danced with the young Marquis della Fazelli, and acquitted herself

with the ease and dignity so natural to her. Julia experienced a

various emotion of pleasure and fear when the Count de Vereza, in whom

she recollected the cavalier she had observed from the window, led her

forth.

The grace of her step, and the elegant symmetry of her figure,

raised in the assembly a gentle murmur of applause, and the soft blush

which now stole over her cheek, gave an additional charm to her

appearance.

But when the music changed, and she danced to the soft

Sicilian measure, the airy grace of her movement, and the unaffected

tenderness of her air, sunk attention into silence, which continued

for some time after the dance had ceased. The marchioness observed the

general admiration with seeming pleasure, and secret uneasiness. She

had suffered a very painful solicitude, when the Count de Vereza

selected her for his partner in the dance, and she pursued him through

the evening with an eye of jealous scrutiny. Her bosom, which before

glowed only with love, was now torn by the agitation of other passions

more violent and destructive. Her thoughts were restless, her mind

wandered from the scene before her, and it required all her address to

preserve an apparent ease. She saw, or fancied she saw, an impassioned

air in the count, when he addressed himself to Julia, that corroded

her heart with jealous fury.




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