Pagina 170 de 788

He was really a handsome gentleman; of tall stature, with an oval

face, fair and with rosy cheeks; he had mild blue eyes and long

blonde hair. The leaves and tufts of grass in the Count's hair,

which he had torn off in crawling over the borders, showed green

like a disordered wreath.

"O thou!" he said, "by whatever name I must honour thee, whether

thou art a goddess or a nymph, a spirit or a phantom, speak! Doth

thine own will call thee to earth, or doth another's power bind

thee in this vale? Ah! I comprehend-surely some disdained lover,

some powerful lord or envious guardian imprisons thee in this

castle park as if under enchantment! Thou art worthy that knights

should fight for thee in arms, and that thou shouldst be the

heroine of mournful ballads! Unfold to me, fair one, the secret

of thy dreadful fate! Thou shalt find a deliverer-henceforth, as

thou rulest my heart by thy nod, so rule my arm."