whilst a certain lascivious shivering seized his whole body, the like of which he had never felt before, at least for his cousin.
"Go in gently, go on tip-toe, she is perhaps asleep, and it would be a pity to wake her," whispered the aunt.
The young man abashed, hesitated a moment on the threshold, then he stepped in noiselessly.
The chamber was all but dark; a flickering night-lamp shed a dim rosy light from above. The young girl lay asleep in a huge pink cushioned bed, looking like the princess in the sleeping tower.
With the fire that had enkindled itself in the young man's veins, he saw a mass of fair dishevelled hair, a frail naked arm, a snowy breast, and the outlines of limbs of passing beauty only veiled by a fine sheet. The young man, who had only known the coarse brawny charms of a stout and squat maid of all work, with red hands and broad feet, remained dumb-founded at the sight of such ethereal beauty.
"May I kiss her hand, aunt?" ask-
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