Phantastes, A Faerie Romance

He cleared the centre of the room; stooped and drew a circle of red on

the floor, around the spot where he stood; wrote in the four quarters

mystical signs, and numbers which were all powers of seven or nine;

examined the whole ring carefully, to see that no smallest break had

occurred in the circumference; and then rose from his bending posture.

As he rose, the church clock struck seven; and, just as she had appeared

the first time, reluctant, slow, and stately, glided in the lady. Cosmo

trembled; and when, turning, she revealed a countenance worn and wan, as

with sickness or inward trouble, he grew faint, and felt as if he dared

not proceed. But as he gazed on the face and form, which now possessed

his whole soul, to the exclusion of all other joys and griefs, the

longing to speak to her, to know that she heard him, to hear from her

one word in return, became so unendurable, that he suddenly and hastily

resumed his preparations. Stepping carefully from the circle, he put

a small brazier into its centre. He then set fire to its contents of

charcoal, and while it burned up, opened his window and seated himself,

waiting, beside it.

It was a sultry evening. The air was full of thunder. A sense of

luxurious depression filled the brain. The sky seemed to have grown

heavy, and to compress the air beneath it. A kind of purplish tinge

pervaded the atmosphere, and through the open window came the scents of

the distant fields, which all the vapours of the city could not quench.

Soon the charcoal glowed. Cosmo sprinkled upon it the incense and other

substances which he had compounded, and, stepping within the circle,

turned his face from the brazier and towards the mirror. Then, fixing

his eyes upon the face of the lady, he began with a trembling voice to

repeat a powerful incantation. He had not gone far, before the lady grew

pale; and then, like a returning wave, the blood washed all its banks

with its crimson tide, and she hid her face in her hands. Then he passed

to a conjuration stronger yet.

The lady rose and walked uneasily to and fro in her room. Another spell;

and she seemed seeking with her eyes for some object on which they

wished to rest. At length it seemed as if she suddenly espied him;

for her eyes fixed themselves full and wide upon his, and she drew

gradually, and somewhat unwillingly, close to her side of the mirror,

just as if his eyes had fascinated her. Cosmo had never seen her so near

before. Now at least, eyes met eyes; but he could not quite understand

the expression of hers. They were full of tender entreaty, but there was

something more that he could not interpret. Though his heart seemed to

labour in his throat, he would allow no delight or agitation to turn him

from his task. Looking still in her face, he passed on to the mightiest

charm he knew. Suddenly the lady turned and walked out of the door

of her reflected chamber. A moment after she entered his room with

veritable presence; and, forgetting all his precautions, he sprang from

the charmed circle, and knelt before her. There she stood, the living

lady of his passionate visions, alone beside him, in a thundery

twilight, and the glow of a magic fire.