Ornament is here misplaced. The feeling heart regrets its presence at the time, and attempts, albeit in vain, to banish it from after recollections. George could not restrain his tears, for he thought of the dead; and they silently followed their guide to Petrarch's house, now partly used as a granary. Passing through two or three unfinished rooms, whose walls were adorned with rude frescoes of the lover and his mistress, they were shown into Petrarch's chamber, damp and untenanted. In the closet adjoining, were the chair and table consecrated by the poet. There did he sit--and write--and muse--and die! George turned to a tall narrow window, and looked out on a scene, fair and luxuriant as the garden of Eden. The rich fig trees, with their peculiar small, high scented fruit, mixed with the vines that clustered round the lattice. The round heads of the full bearing peach trees, dipped down in a leafy slope beneath a grassy walk;--and this thicket of fruit was charmingly enlivened, by bunches of the scarlet pomegranate, now in the pride of their blossom. The poet's garden alone was neglected--rank herbage choking up its uncultivated flowers. A thousand thoughts filled the mind of George Delmé. He thought of Laura! of his own Acmé! With swimming glance, he looked round the chamber. It was almost without furniture, and without ornament. In a niche, and within a glass case, was placed the skeleton of a dumb favourite of Petrarch's. Suddenly George Delmé felt a faintness stealing over him:--and he turned to bare his forehead, to catch the slight breeze from below redolent of sweets. This did not relieve him. A sharp pain across the chest, and a fluttering at the heart, as of a bird struggling to be free, succeeded this faintness. Another rush of blood to the head:--and a snap, as of some tendon, was distinctly felt by the sufferer. His mouth filled with blood. A small blood-vessel had burst, and temporary insensibility ensued. Sir Henry was wholly unprepared for this scene. Assisted by Thompson, he bore him to the carriage--sprinkled his face with water--and administered cordials. George's recovery was speedy; and it almost seemed, as if the rupture of the vessel had been caused by the irregular circulation, for no further bad effects were felt at the time. The loss of blood, however, evidently weakened him; and his spasms henceforward were more frequent. He became less able to undergo fatigue; and his mind, probably in connection with the nervous system, became more than ordinarily excited. There was no longer wildness in his actions; but in his thoughts and language, was developed a poetical eccentricity--a morbid sympathy with surrounding scenes and impressions, which kept Sir Henry Delmé in a constant state of alarm,--and which was very remarkable. * * * * * "What! at Mestré already, Pietro?" said Sir Henry. "Even so, Signore! and here is the gondola to take you on to Venice."