[Footnote 7:  The rustic bridge at Park-place was built by general Conway, to carry the road from Henley, and to leave the communication free between his grounds on each side of the road.  Vide last page of 4th. vol. of Anecdotes of Painting.]

[Footnote 8:  The old woman who kept the cottage built by general Conway to command a glorious prospect.  Ford-house is a farm house at the termination of the grounds.]

[Footnote 9:  A fictitious tomb in a beautiful spot by the river, built for a point of view:  it has a small pyramid on it.]

TALE VI.

A true Love Story.

In the height of the animosities between the factions of the Guelfs and Ghibellines, a party of Venetians had made an inroad into the territories of the Viscontis, sovereigns of Milan, and had carried off the young Orondates, then at nurse.  His family were at that time under a cloud, though they could boast of being descended from Canis Scaliger, lord of Verona.  The captors sold the beautiful Orondates to a rich widow of the noble family of Grimaldi, who having no children, brought him up with as much tenderness as if he had been her son.  Her fondness increased with the growth of his stature and charms, and the violence of his passions were augmented by the signora Grimaldi’s indulgence.  Is it necessary to say that love reigned predominantly in the soul of Orondates?  Or that in a city like Venice a form like that of Orondates met with little resistance?

The Cyprian queen, not content with the numerous oblations of Orondates on her altars, was not satisfied while his heart remained unengaged.  Across the canal, overagainst the palace of Grimaldi, stood a convent of Carmelite nuns, the abbess of which had a young African slave of the most exquisite beauty, called Azora, a year younger than Orondates.  Jet and japan were tawny and without lustre, when compared to the hue of Azora.  Afric never produced a female so perfect as Azora; as Europe could boast but of one Orondates.

The signora Grimaldi, though no bigot, was pretty regular at her devotions, but as lansquenet was more to her taste than praying, she hurried over her masses as fast as she could, to allot more of her precious time to cards.  This made her prefer the church of the Carmelites, separated only by a small bridge, though the abbess was of a contrary faction.  However, as both ladies were of equal quality, and had had no altercations that could countenance incivility, reciprocal curtsies always passed between them, the coldness of which each pretended to lay on their attention to their devotions, though the signora Grimaldi attended but little to the priest, and the abbess was chiefly employed in watching and criticising the inattention of the signora.

Not so Orondates and Azora.  Both constantly accompanied their mistresses to mass, and the first moment they saw each other was decisive in both breasts.  Venice ceased to have more than one fair in the eyes of Orondates, and Azora had not remarked till then that there could be more beautiful beings in the world than some of the Carmelite nuns.