depicting them in a romance, and he is in the presence of the Countess, toward whom he glances with all the bashfulness of boyish passion.  The song is in ballad form, to suit the situation, the voice executing the clear, lovely melody, while the stringed instruments carry on a simple accompaniment pizzicato, to imitate the guitar:  this delicate outline is, however, shaded and animated in a wonderful degree by solo wind instruments.  Without being absolutely necessary for the progress of the melodies and the completeness of the harmonies, they supply the delicate touches of detail, reading between the lines of the romance, as it were, what is passing in the heart of the singer.  We know not whether to admire most the gracefulness of the melodies, the delicacy of the disposition of the parts, the charm of the tone coloring, or the tenderness of the expression—­the whole is of entrancing beauty.”

Susanna finds that she and Cherubino are of the same height, and begins to array him in garments belonging to her, first locking the door against possible intruders.  The Countess views the adventure with some misgivings at first, but, after all, Cherubino is a mere boy, and she rejoices him with approval of his songs, and smiles upon him till he is deliriously happy.  Basilio has given him his commission in the Count’s regiment, and the Countess discovers that it lacks a seal to secure which would cause a longer and desired delay.  While Susanna is playing the role of dressing-maid to Cherubino, and instructing him in a ladylike bearing, the Count raps for admission to the room.  Figaro’s decoy letter caused him uneasiness, and he had abandoned the hunt.  Cherubino hurries into the chamber, and the Countess turns the key upon him before admitting his lordship, who enters in an ill-humor which is soon turned into jealous rage.  Cherubino has awkwardly overturned a chair in the chamber, and though the Countess explains that Susanna is within, she refuses to open the door, on the plea that her maid is making her toilet.  The Count goes for tools to break open the door, taking the Countess with him.  Susanna, who has heard all from an alcove, hastens to Cherubino’s rescue, who escapes by leaping from the window of the Countess’s apartment into the garden below.  Susanna takes his place in the chamber.  Then begins the most marvellously ingenious and beautiful finale in the whole literature of opera.  Fast upon each other follow no fewer than eight independent pieces of music, each a perfect delineation of the quickly changing moods and situations of the comedy, yet each built up on the lines of musical symmetry, and developing a musical theme which, though it passes from mouth to mouth, appears each time to belong peculiarly to the person uttering it.  The Countess throws herself upon the mercy of the Count, confesses that Cherubino, suspiciously garbed, is in the chamber, but pleads for his life and protests her innocence of wrong.  She gives the key to her enraged husband, who draws his sword, unlocks the door, and commands the page to stand forth.  Susanna confronts the pair with grave unconsciousness upon her features.  The Countess is no less amazed than her lord.