This was the first bitter drop we had ever tasted in the delicious cup which Cupid held to our lips........and from which we had been accustomed to sip ineffable delight. We took leave with aching hearts ......something foreboding hung about us.........we were both infected by the fatal presage.....we embraced.....parted .....returned again....renewed the fond farewell.....and had scarcely power to retire, when the majestic sun arose, and beckoned us away. I continued my visits to the grove..... and...in the solitary contemplation of my former happiness.......found relief for my oppressed heart. One night I threw myself at the feet of the statue where I had first seen my beloved Psyche reclining....... and.....overcome by a sudden stupor..... I lay a considerable time insensible, and motionless. When I came to myself again I discovered a wreath of new-blown flowers ........pendant from the arm of the Nymph......and hanging over me.......I sprang up.......impatient to unravel the mystery.......and perceived a billet enclosed among the flowers. 66 66 "I can no longer resist, my beloved Agathon.....I must see you to-morrow night, and at this very spot....... so dear to memory.......Be at ease "about the Priestess.....she is ignorant "of our attachment........I do not ask 66 you if the hours will appear tedious, "because my own heart tells me, every moment is an eternity which sepa66 rates you from "Your faithful PSYCHE." Grief instantly changed to rapture .I was wild at this unlooked-for joy ......I wound the garland round me in fantastic forms......kissed it......hugged it.......Nay fondled it, till methought I could distinguish the breath of Psyche ......more prevalent than the fragrance of the odoriferous plants........exhaling from the kiss she had left imprinted for me. I was at the grove the following night an hour before my appointment my bosom throbbed with impatience......At length I saw the beautiful shade of my beloved, advancing between the myrtle hedges. The night was rather sombre.....but a star now and then shot its rays from the heavens......and enabled me to distinguish the well-known habit of my Psyche. I flew to shorten our distance.....and the next moment locked us in each other's arms. The bliss which fluttered my agitated heart prevented me.........for some minutes,....from looking at my Psyche ......but my attention was soon-roused by the voluptuous pressure of the object in my arms.......I found an almost naked bosom beat violently against my breast. This could not be Psyche....How unlike such amorous emotion was the timid tenderness of my virtuous maid! ........I no longer hesitated..........I attempted to spring from her embrace... but found myself so firmly clasped, the effort was ineffectual.....Horror seized me...and, giving vigor to my wishes... I resolutely struggled with the infu riate Priestess. She preserved her grasp.......and we both fell prostrate on the ground. I must pass over this disgusting scene, by merely telling you, that the Priestess, finding tears.....entreaty....... abject submission.....all,......ineffectual ......arose, with the fury of a Demon in her eyes, denouncing vengeance against her innocent rival. I replied calmly.....that her degeneracy had placed her own life....and, what should be still dearer....her fame, within my keeping.......I defied her .....at her peril.....to touch a hair of Psyche's head. When left alone.......I immediately solved the riddle of the garland....... No language can describe my cruel anxiety for the object of all my love, thus exposed to the hellish vengeance of the Priestess........In a few days, however, my uncertainty was relieved by one of the Virgins, who informed me Psyche was removed from Delphos. I could learn no more.......but it determined me instantly to quit the Temple. On the following night I left Delphos.....regardless of consequences..... and followed whither instinct led me; assured, that the load-stone of sym 1 |