This conversation passed between our two pretended lovers, but in fact impudent knaves. In the meantime Periander had succeeded in having a private interview with his Auristella. He entered her room intending to give her the letter he had written, but when he saw her, forgetting all the discourses and exculpations, which he had prepared, he said, "Lady, look at me, am not I Periander, who was Persiles; and am I not that Periander whom you loved? Can anything untie the knot that binds us two together but death? and if it be so, what can you mean by giving me advice so much against truth? By the bright heaven above us, and by thine own brighter self, I implore thee to name Sinforosa no more, nor imagine that either her beauty or her riches can avail to make me forget thee and thy incomparable charms both of body and soul. This body of mine, which only breathes for thee, I once again offer to thee, although not possessing more advantages now than when I first offered it to thy acceptance. Try to recover your health, dearest lady, that we may quit this country, and I will try to contrive that we may pursue our journey; for although Rome is the Heaven upon earth, still it is not in the skies; and neither danger nor suffering shall prevent us from reaching it at last, however we may be delayed in doing so."
Whilst Periander was speaking, Auristella was regarding him with tenderness, and with tears of mingled compassion and jealous feeling; but, finally, his lover-like pleading and the truth that shone through every word, had their effect upon her jealous spirit, and she answered in a few words, thus; "I do believe thee, beloved one, and have nothing to desire but that thou wilt as speedily as may be take me from this place. In another land I may hope to recover from the fever of jealousy that has confined me to this bed."
"If," said Periander, "I had given the smallest cause for your thus suffering, I would patiently hear your complaints, and you would find in my exculpations a remedy for your sorrows; but as I have never offended you in anything, I know not how to excuse myself. But I will hasten to do as you require, and we will leave this country as soon as possible."
"Would you know something that concerns you nearly?" she replied. "Then hear the flattering offers which I have just received, the least of which is a kingdom. Polycarp, the king, wishes to have me for a wife; he sent to tell me this by his daughter, Sinforosa, and she hopes through my good offices (I being her mother-in-law) to obtain you as a husband. You know best whether this can be. If we are in any danger, think well over it, and take what remedies you think proper for the case: and pardon me for those doubts and suspicions whereby I have offended you; love will excuse such faults as these."
"It is said," answered Periander, "that love cannot exist without jealousy, and jealousy is often caused by the most trivial things. All I ask of you, and which you owe to an understanding like yours, is, that henceforth you should view my conduct with more candid and less punctilious eyes, (with eyes more beautiful would be impossible,) but not making of any small fault of mine, small as a grain of mustard-seed, a mountain which reaches the skies, from which jealous fancies spring; and for the rest, use your own judgment in dealing with the king and Sinforosa, and do not offend her, but feign to give hopes that may lead them to expect what they desire. And now I will leave you, that our long interview may not lead to any suspicion." So saying, Periander departed, and in leaving the room he met Clodio and Rutilio. Rutilio had just torn up the letter he had written to Polycarpa, and Clodio had folded up his and put it into his breast. Rutilio had repented of his folly, but Clodio was satisfied with his own cleverness and proud of his boldness: however, the time will come when he would gladly give half his life (supposing a life to be divideable) not to have written that letter.
CHAPTER VIII.
What passed between Auristella and Sinforosa. All the Strangers resolve to quit the Island.
King Polycarp greatly enlivened by his amorous intentions, and quite confident and secure as to what Auristella's decision would be, set himself already to plan the festivals and rejoicings, which should celebrate the approaching wedding; in all which he never paused to consider the great disparity between his age and the intended bride's—the enormous distance of seventeen years and seventy; and even had he been sixty, the difference would still have been too great. Thus are even the wisest of men led away by the follies that love leads them into. Thus, are they who have not power to resist their amorous inclinations, subdued and carried away by the soft influence of the tender passion. Quite different was the case of Sinforosa, who felt no ways certain of what her fate would be; for, as is most natural, they who hope much, fear much; and those things which might have given weight to her hopes, such as her beauty, rank and station, and great merits, she considered as nothing, for it is a peculiar property of true love to make its votaries fearful that they are not worthy of the beloved object. Love and fear are so coupled together, that one is always to be found with the other; and true love is not arrogant, as some say, but humble, timid and retiring; and the more precious and inestimable is the thing beloved, the more does the lover tremble, lest by some fault of his own he should lose it. The fair Sinforosa considered all this quite differently from her father, and agitated between hope and fear, she went to seek Auristella, and learn from her what she had to expect. When she found herself with Auristella, and alone, as she desired to be, so anxious was she to know whether the tidings she had to impart were good or bad, that without uttering a single word, she fixed her eyes earnestly on her face, in order to discover there, the verdict of life or death. Auristella understood her meaning, and half-smiling, as if in token of encouragement, she said, "Although, lady, it does not seem that fear need put an axe to the root of your tree of hope, to cut it down; yet true it is that both your happiness and mine will have to be delayed some time, though it may at last come to pass; for there are certain impediments in the way of your desires, but not enough to make you despair of ever attaining them. My brother says, that such is your merit and beauty, they must perforce win the love of any man, and he is very sensible and grateful for the preference you honour him with, and for your wish to become his wife; but before this desirable event can be realized, it will be necessary to deprive the Prince Arnoldo of his hopes of obtaining me as his wife, and without doubt, this must be done if you should marry my brother; for you must know, my sister, that I can no more exist apart from Periander than can a body exist without a soul. Where he dwells, there must I too dwell; he is the spirit that animates me—and this being so, if he marries in this country, how could I live in Arnoldo's land, and my brother absent?