THE

WOMAN OF GENIUS.

CHAPTER I.

"With wise intent

The hand of nature on peculiar minds
Imprints a different bias."

AKENSIDE.

“The moon is up, and yet it is not nightSunset divides the sky with her a sea

Of glory streams along the Alpine height Of blue Friuli's mountains; Heaven is free From clouds, but of all colours seems to be Melted to one vast Iris of the west! Where the day joins the past eternity; While, on the other hand, meek Dian's crest Floats through the azure air, an island of the l·lest!

"A single star is at her side, and reigns
With her o'er half the lovely heaven; but still
Yon sunny sea heaves brightly, and remains
Roll'd o'er the peak of the far Rhotian hill,
As day and night contending were, until
Nature reclaim'd her order. Gently flows
The deep-dyed Brenta, where their hues instil
The odorous purple of a new-born rose,
Which streams upon her stream, and glass'd within it,
glows.

"Fill'd with the face of heaven, which from afar
Comes down upon the waters; all its hues,
From the rich sunset to the rising star,
Their magical variety diffuse :

And now they change; a paler shadow strew s
Its mantle o'er the mountains; parting day
Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues
With a new colour as it gasps away,

The last still loveliest, till-'tis gone-and all is gray."

In such a night, in such a season, but not in such a scene, a vessel, gallantly built, was sailing in a sea of liquid gold, sparkling in fresh splendour, as its surface was broken by the prow, and pressed with all her canvass towards the English coast, the pale cliffs of which were al

ready distinctly perceptible to the naked eye. On the deck there were three prominent figures, forming a marked and picturesque groupe. The central form was that of a young officer in the hussar uniform. The feminine fairness and bloom of his complexion was not rendered more martial by the golden curls that clustered over his white forehead with elegance and becomingness, rather than with fashion, or by the light mustachoes which shaded his small upper lip. His eyes, of a bright deep blue, were intelligent and animated, not ardent. An air of vivacity distinguished both his countenance and his form, adding to the elegance and heroic seeming of the latter. Notwithstanding the sunny radiant character of that young officer's beauty, it is impossible to imagine an expression more completely passionless than his, in all its variation. The fire that illuminated his features seemed but a phosphoric flame that shone without burning, without possessing vital heat. There was softness,

and cheerfulness, and sense, but there was no touch of passion; and the eye wandered over him, eagerly watching to discover a trace of deep feeling or intense thought, with an indistinct sense of dwelling on some vacuity alike impenetrable and incomprehensible. Whether his were a nature too gentle to be agitated by those storms which distract sterner breasts, or whether it were too cold to be susceptible of them, invited inquiry, but admitted not decision. After having dwelt intently on his face, the observer felt as a spectator of nature would do, if, on gaining the point of an ascent which he had traversed in hopes of enjoying a more extensive prospect, he should find the horizon bounded by circumjacent mountains. He seemed one who would lighten the load of life of its weight, by laughing away misfortune, or bearing it lightly rather than with fortitude. He lived in and for the present, nothing daunted by the mystery of the future he must prove. Apparently gay, careless,

and confiding, it was impossible to withhold confidence from him, or to suspect that mystery lurked beneath that veil of blithe candour and youthful levity. The veteran in hypocrisy, never never viewed him with suspicion. He was too careless for design, and too indiscreet for deception.

The

A female, whose appearance was not so youthful as his, but still sufficiently young to render her no inappropriate mate for him, leaned on his right arm. eye, occupied in observing the fluctuations of her countenance, neither lingered on her features nor on her form. Her mouth was dimpled, or the serenity of her brow was chased by alternate smiles and frowns; not the effect of emotions resulting from present circumstances, or called into action by them, but dependant on the past. The splendid scene spread out before her, in the heaven and the air, and on the curling, glittering water, was no object of contemplation and admiration to her; her views were internal-she saw