IX.
“Where, hoarded, she with careful privacy
“Preserved whatever she esteemed most rare;
“There many times she slept. A gallery
“From thence projected into the open air.
“Here oft I made my lover climb to me,
“And (what he was to mount) a hempen stair,
“When him I to my longing arms would call,
“From the projecting balcony let fall.
X.
“For here my passion I as often fed
“As good Geneura’s absence made me bold;
“Who with the varying season changed her bed,
“To shun the burning heat or pinching cold,
“And Albany, unseen and safely sped;
“For, fronting a dismantled street, and old,
“Was built that portion of the palace bright;
“Nor any went that way by day or night.
XI.
“So was for many days and months maintained
“By us, in secrecy, the amorous game;
“Still grew my love, and such new vigour gained,
“I in my inmost bosom felt the flame;
“And that he little loved, and deeply feigned
“Weened not, so was I blinded to my shame:
“Though, in a thousand certain signs betrayed,
“The faithless knight his base deceit bewrayed.
