THE ADORER
V.—The Visitation
"Vous qui parlez d'un ton si doux
En m'annoncant de bonnes choses,
Ma Dame, qui donc êtes-vous?
Verlaine, Sagesse.
"Yes, beloved Guido, I am the Queen of Angels, the Archangelic Virgin, the Morning Star, the Tower of David, the Golden House, I am...."
"Oh! no, you are the Novella, do not frighten me, I need all my presence of mind."
"Well, whatever you wish, but I love you. Close your eyes, I am inviolate and I feel myself blush. What will you think of me? Alas! it is really true that no one has ever implored me in vain. I cannot resist love's invocations, and when I am called with faith, I open the portal of heaven, and an angel lifts me on his wings."
"Adored Madonna," murmured Guido, kissing feet that were pure as the dew, "I am unworthy of your favors and see, my kisses are full of tears. Virgin of all love, my love was but a drop of water, and you have taken it in the holy lily of your heart. Be blessed for your goodness."
The Novella stooped towards the prisoner and touched his face with her lips.
She removed her crown of stars: the stars took wings to the roof and made a firmament of it. The buckle of her girdle hung in the air like a sun and the clasp of her cloak became a moon of white nights.
She sighed deeply, and from her lips was born a cloud that veiled the beaming glory of the stars with a vague charm. Then she said:
"Guido, you have doubted, look and die of love!"
She blossomed into a mystic rose that exhaled an adorable perfume.
And Guido's heart was filled with sweetness.
Then she became a pure mirror in which flamed a sword.
And Guido's heart was filled with justice.
Then she became a throne of cedar where graven sentences could be read.
And Guido's heart was filled with wisdom.
Then a vase appeared which was of bronze, then of silver, then of gold; from it issued clouds of incense of cinnamon and of myrrh.
And Guido's heart was filled with adorations.
Then uprose a tower of ivory and other visions, then a resplendent portal which Guido recognized as the portal of heaven, and he commenced to wonder whether this adventure would not finish as speciously as his adventure with Pavona.
Yet his heart was filled with joy.
"No, no, no. I belong to the angels. Die, become an angel, throw off this flesh which would soil me, assume the celestial form, and we shall see, Guido. Remember that I am inviolate. I repeat, I belong to the angels.... You have seen this!"
And with this last irony, the Most Prudent Virgin disappeared, as she had come, through the lock.
An aromatic odor filled the cell. Guido delightedly inhaled these virginal remains, then told himself:
"She is right, I must die. Besides, I owe her a visit."