Page:By order of the Czar.djvu/254

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242 BY ORDER OF THE CZAR.

posed to have power over the heart, who controls the loves of mortal men and women whether they will or no, would not have Anna Klosstock eclipsed by Dolly

Whether or no Dolly was governed by that fine instinct which is the peculiar possession of women, or whether she had a sneaking kindness for Selwyn, it is not for the chronicler to say ; anyhow, she was not altogether satisfied that Philip loved her as sincerely as he professed ; and when she slept, she had uncomfortable dreams ; and when she awoke, she did so with a shudder, as the imaginary face of the woman in Philip Forsyth's picture faded into the darkness.


CHAPTER XXXII.

AT VENICE BY MOONLIGHT.

" MAKE the acquaintance of the city of the sea as a matter of choice by sea and in the sunshine," says Yriarte. But approach Venice how you may, or when, her aspect is impressive beyond description.

If it is magnificent to sail into the lagoons from the Adriatic, it is bewitching to glide into her waterways from the mainland and by moonlight. Furthermore, whichever way you may approach your destination, you will find it equally impossible to analyze the sensations that overcome you ; in the end you will probably turn to Rogers, whom you have hitherto regarded as a writer of mere prose, tricked out in blank verse, and recalling your unjust esti- mate of the banker's muse, will in imagination place a chaplet upon his brows as tribute to the poetic picture of your waking dream.

" There is a glorious city in the Sea.

The Sea is in the "broad, the narrow streets f