And her presence really benefited him almost as much as he had anticipated during the hours of solitary yearning in Tennis; he felt it a great favour of Fate to be permitted to strive to possess her, felt even during the delirium of this reception that he loved her.  What a tremendous longing to clasp her at once in his arms as his betrothed bride overwhelmed him; but her father’s opposition to the union of his only child with a blind man must first be conquered, and the great agitation in his soul, as well as the tumult around him, seemed like a mockery of the quiet happiness which hovered before him when he thought of his marriage with Daphne.  Not until everything was calmer would the time come to woo her.  Until then both must be satisfied with knowing from each other’s lips their mutual love, and he thought he perceived in the tone of her voice the deep emotion of her heart.

Perhaps this had prevented Daphne’s expressing her congratulations upon the success of his Demeter as eagerly and fully as he had expected.  Painfully disturbed by her reserve, he had just attempted to induce her to give a less superficial opinion of his work, when the curtains of the dining room parted-the music of flutes, singing, and pleasant odours greeted him and the guests.  Archias summoned them to breakfast, and a band of beautiful boys, with flowers and garlands of ivy, obeyed the command to crown them.

Then Thyone approached the newly united pair and, after exchanging a few words with Daphne, whispered in an agitated voice to the blind sculptor, over whose breast a brown-locked young slave was just twining a garland of roses:  “Poverty no longer stands between you and the object of your love; is it Nemesis who even now still seals your lips?”

Hermon stretched out his hand to draw her nearer to him and murmur softly that her counsel had aided him to break the power of the terrible goddess, but he grasped the empty air.  At the same time the deep voice of his love’s father, whose opposition threatened to cloud his new happiness, singing, flute-playing, and the laughter of fair women greeted him and, only half master of his own will, he assented, by a slight bend of the head, to the matron’s question.  A light shiver ran through his frame with the speed of lightning, and the Epicurean’s maxim that fear and cold are companions darted through his brain.  But what should he fear?  He had endured severe trials, it is true, for the sake of remaining faithful to truth in art and life; but who probably ever reached the age of manhood without once deviating from it?  Besides, he was surely aware that, had he been obliged to answer Thyone in words, he would not have been guilty of the falsehood.  His reply had consisted of a slight motion of the head, and it negatived nothing; it was merely intended to defer for a short time the thing he most desired.

Yet the rash answer weighed heavily on his mind; but it could no longer be recalled that day, and was believed, for Thyone whispered, “We shall succeed in reconciling the terrible being.”