and under that heavenly light her face seemed lovelier for its blushes.
"For the enigmas are but love's common language, and love should solve
them. Till I knew thee,--till I lived with thee; till I learned to
watch for thy footstep when absent: yet even in absence to see
thee everywhere!--I dreamed not how strong and all-pervading is the
connection between nature and the human soul!...

"And yet," she continued, "I am now assured of what I at first
believed,--that the feelings which attracted me towards thee at first
were not those of love. I know THAT, by comparing the present with the
past,--it was a sentiment then wholly of the mind or the spirit! I could
not hear thee now say, 'Viola, be happy with another!'"

"And I could not now tell thee so! Ah, Viola, never be weary of assuring
me that thou art happy!"

"Happy while thou art so. Yet at times, Zanoni, thou art so sad!"

"Because human life is so short; because we must part at last; because
yon moon shines on when the nightingale sings to it no more! A little
while, and thine eyes will grow dim, and thy beauty haggard, and these
locks that I toy with now will be grey and loveless."

"And thou, cruel one!" said Viola, touchingly, "I shall never see the
signs of age in thee! But shall we not grow old together, and our eyes
be accustomed to a change which the heart shall not share!"

Zanoni sighed. He turned away, and seemed to commune with himself.

Glyndon's attention grew yet more earnest.