Having folded this leaf up carefully, she threw it into the lower garden, through the boughs of the orange-trees, which did not conceal her so perfectly as to prevent Ozmin from perceiving her. He observed that she had let something fall, which she had done so cautiously, that her friend had not in the least remarked it, who was, in fact, so much taken up with admiring and listening to the singer, that she thought of nothing else. No sooner had he finished his song, than she called to him to begin again for ladies’ sakes. This request he would willingly have complied with, but the King had just returned from hunting, which obliged Daraxa and her friend to return to the palace, to the great regret of the latter, who did not feel the least desire to quit the spot. No sooner had the ladies retired, than Ozmin, curious to know what his dear Daraxa had thrown towards him, soon found the folded leaf, under the spot where she had stood to listen to his singing, which he took up, and quitted the garden hastily, congratulating himself on his good fortune, and considering how often he should be there in future. Daraxa’s billet completely restored him to life, and he did not fail to dispatch Orviedo the next morning to the palace gate, where he met Laida, who was covered with a thick black veil to prevent her being known. As soon as she perceived Orviedo, she addressed him, gave him a letter from her mistress, and received one from Ozmin in return. Before they separated they had together a conversation long enough to enable them to give a most satisfactory account to both the lovers. Ozmin’s letter was full of complaints, and Daraxa’s of protestations of fidelity and love. They were, however, soon appeased. There is, certainly, a voluptuous pleasure in the quarrels of lovers; but they ought not to last long, neither should they too frequently occur, lest they produce ill effects. What consolation for our lovers to have found means to establish an intercourse by letter, and even to see each other occasionally! Daraxa would gladly have walked alone in the palace gardens, that she might have conversed more freely with Ozmin; but it was too great a risk. They must both have been inevitably lost if any person had discovered them. Besides which, the sight of Ozmin had made so much impression on Elvira, that she never left her friend, and talked of nothing but the cavalier who had sung so finely. She herself proposed to her friend, the very next day, to walk in the garden, in the hope of meeting him there; and the complaisant Daraxa, who equally desired it, willingly consented to accompany her.