Page:Blackwood's Magazine volume 050.djvu/353

⁠Lau. I hope you may be able to effect
A safe retreat before my guardian comes;
He will be here immediately. To-day
Is fixed for the decision of the prizes.
⁠Rav. ⁠To-day?
⁠Lau. Yea! were you not aware of that?
⁠Rav. How should I know it?
⁠Lau. (sighing) ⁠Ay! too true—too true—
You are no painter.
⁠Rav. ⁠Wherefore do you sigh?
Oh, Laura—Laura! does the painter's art
Engross so large a share of your esteem,
That but a secondary love is left
For a poor surgeon?
⁠Lau. ⁠What you are to me,
Bernardo—you know well. Yet I confess
If you were but a painter, all my wishes
Would be fulflll'd. I have a love for painters­
A love inhaled with the first air I breathed —
My father was devoted to the art
With all the zeal of an enthusiast.
He had himself some skill—and our whole house
Was filled with paintings by the greatest masters.
Thus, in an atmosphere of grace and beauty
My infancy was spent—my playmates, pictures.
After my father's death my guardian took me;
And he, too, is possess'd by the same passion.
Mew'd up, secluded by his jealous care,
From all society of men, I still
Had friends about me, and these friends were still
The bright creations of the painter's hand.
The tender Guido and the soft Romano,
The earnest Annibal, the pious Durer—
These were the dear companions of my youth,
And with their works my fondest thoughts are twined.
Methinks, Bernardo, if you were to try,
You might become a painter; for so true
A feeling of the beautiful is yours,
And I have heard you speak respecting art
In terms so glowing, that I'm sure you love it.
Now, for my sake, do try. The laurel's green,
How well it would become these clustering locks!
⁠Rav. (aside.) Oh, heavenly rapture!
⁠Lau. (leaning on his shoulder.) Promise me you'll try?
⁠Rav. If all goes well, I promise you I will.
⁠Lau. Oh, that is charming!—Now, even now, methinks
I see you seated at your easel, with
Myself beside you, stealing, whilst I knit,
Admiring glances as your work proceeds.
I read your name already in the lists
Of glory—of myself I hear it said,
That is the wife of the illustrious Bernard—
Oh! what a dream of joy!
⁠Rav. ⁠A dream indeed!
⁠Lau. Which shall come true—if you'll but persevere.
No doubt the first steps will be difficult,
But practice in the end will make you perfect.
I can myself assist you with some hints.
Learn'd from my guardian.
⁠Rav. ⁠Never breathe that name,
Its mention thrills me like an ague-shudder.