Clodio, always idle and inquisitive, had watched Arnoldo closely, and saw how much he had at heart the love of Auristella. One day, being alone with him, he said, "I, who have always been accustomed to find fault with princes publicly, without preserving the respect due to their high rank, would now fain, in private, speak my mind freely to you. What I ask of you is, that you will hear patiently the advice I am about to give, and let my motive plead my excuse, if it is unpleasing to you." Arnoldo was puzzled, not knowing what Clodio was going to say; however, he determined to hear him, and so told him he might say freely what he pleased; and Clodio, satisfied with this safe conduct, proceeded thus:--"My lord, you love Auristella. I may say more, you adore her; and, as I understand, you know no more of her history, nor who she is, than what she has been pleased to tell you; and that is--nothing! You have kept her in your power more than two years, during which, I have heard, you took all the pains possible to conquer her severity, and gain her heart, wishing to make her yours by lawful marriage, and yet that she is as cold and immoveable now, as she was the first day you spoke to her; whence I argue, that she is as deficient in understanding, as you are superabundant in patience; and it is worthy of consideration, whether there may not exist some great mystery, causing a woman thus to refuse a kingdom, and reject a prince so worthy of being loved. Likewise, it is mysterious to see a wandering damsel, her rank unknown, accompanied only by a youth, who though he calls himself her brother, may yet not be so, going about from one country to another, from island to island, exposed to the inclemency of the weather, and to the rude treatment and dangers of the land, as well as of the ocean. Honour is dearer than life itself. A wise man should permit reason to moderate his pleasures, and ought not to give way to his own desires." Clodio was here about to enter upon a philosophical and serious tirade, when Periander came in, and interrupted his oration, greatly to his annoyance, and also to that of Arnoldo, who wished to hear him out. Maurice, Ladislaus, and Transila also came in, and with them Auristella, supported by Sinforosa, so ill, that it was necessary to convey her to her bed; her illness causing such agonies of alarm in the bosoms of Periander and Arnoldo, that they stood nearly as much in need of a physician as Auristella. [Illustration] CHAPTER III. _Sinforosa reveals her love to Auristella._ The instant that the king heard of Auristella's illness, he sent his physicians to visit her. They discovered that her ailment proceeded more from the mind than the body. Arnoldo and Periander had partly guessed this, and Clodio better than anybody.