“Yes, I think so. I’ve no doubt he will,” replied Oriel Porphyry.
“Then I should like to be there!” murmured his fair companion, with marked emphasis on the pronoun. “And the Lady Eureka you speak of—do you love her?
“Indeed I do, Lilya,” replied the young merchant, earnestly; “and you will find her worthy of being beloved. She is beautiful, good, affectionate, and intelligent.”
“And does she love you in return?” asked Lilya.
“It is my happiness to believe so,” responded Oriel.
“How delightful it must be for both of you,” exclaimed the simple girl, with her face beaming with animation as she turned her soft blue eyes full upon her companion.
“And you shall share in this delight, Lilya, if you prove yourself worthy of it,” said Oriel, kindly. “Eureka is distinguished for her superior excellence; and she cannot love you unless you possess goodness to recommend you to her. There is nothing in the world that a woman ought so much to pride herself upon as the purity of her actions. She ought not to allow any one even to suspect her of wrong; and if her behaviour is free from mystery or deceit, she will never give cause for suspicion. The first step towards the commission of great criminality in a woman, is a carelessness in tolerating familiarities from more than one, that are not considered any thing beyond trifling gallantries from the one by whom she is truly loved; and from that one only can such things be permitted, because in this instance they become the natural signs of a sincere affection, that are peculiarly graceful and refreshing in their influence: but as the wife confines all expressions of affection to her husband, so ought the loved one to preserve all her devotion for her lover. Their situations are exactly similar; and ’t is as great a crime for a woman to deceive her lover by allowing others to share in her affections, as it is for a wife to betray her husband by a violation of the marriage vow.”
“I do not understand you,” said Lilya, looking considerably puzzled and bewildered.
“Ah! I forgot it was to you I was speaking,” replied Oriel. “But what I meant to express to you is, that if you wish to insure and preserve the good opinion of those whose good opinion is most valuable to you, you will show yourself particularly anxious to become distinguished for excellence of conduct and goodness of disposition.”
“Ah, that is just what Zabra has told me,” exclaimed the blushing maiden, “He used to be always talking to me in that way; and told me so much that was proper for me to know, and looked so kind, and appeared so attentive, that I was always delighted to hear him. But he no longer talks to me in that manner. He is now harsh in his language, and stern in his gaze; and he will scarcely look or speak to me.”