"The glorious woman whom I encircled with my arms, was just as little wrath as the Madonna. "And yet--is it not temerity of the man who only ventures to offer to the woman transient love? Has she not the right to a love that shall fill his whole life? May he without awe, without the fear of conscience, touch this holy thing? "I was intoxicated by the moment; I did not think of the future. I accepted nothing, I declined nothing, but the _gens d'arme_ who dwells in our bosom, to whom I had not listened for so long, asserted himself. I felt, in spite of all, in the presence of those fiery kisses, something of a subject's duty. I mentioned my name, position and place of habitation. "But she laid her hand, as if imploringly, upon my lips-- "'Not these confessions, which I shall not, cannot return; shall we, then, frighten away the present beautiful dream? The witchery of happiness lies in mystery. You must never learn my name! Give me your word never to try to discover it.' "I promised; but demanded urgently that her whole heart should be mine. She looked wondrously beautiful in the darkened chapel, when a ray of lightning, illumining her fine features, seemed to trace her figure in dazzling outlines in the twilight. "'I only remain here three more days; then I disappear for ever--'from you also.' "'Three days--well, but three days of perfect happiness may atone for everlasting separation. Three days--but they must be three days that can never be forgotten. Let us not think of the cold duty that constrains us to part, let us but remember that three days are still before us--yet I do not even know your name!' "'Call me Giulia; it is one of the names that I bear.' "In crash upon crash the storm discharged itself above us; more tempestuous became my vows. She bent towards me, whispering-- "'Men think but lightly of a heart that is quickly won, and are ever ready to repay fond love with forgetfulness and contempt.' "I protested that that would never be the case with me.