The soil on
which the forest stands is composed of the accumulation of sand
which the rivers--mainly the Po--have brought from distant
mountains, and deposited in the bed of the Adriatic since the old
church was built "in Classe,"--where the fleet once used to be
moored. The building thus stands nearly at the edge of the forest,
hardly more than a stone's throw from the furthest advanced
sentinels of the wood. The road coming out from the city by the
Porta Nuova, on its way to the little town of Cervia, a few miles to
the southward, traverses ground once thickly covered with palaces,
streets, and churches, now open fields,--and passes by the western
front and doorway of the almost deserted old Basilica, a little
before it reaches the turning off towards the left, which enters the
forest.
The walk before Paolina, when she had passed the city gate, was
about two miles or rather more. So that had La Bianca taken a few
less minutes to put the finishing touches to the charming morning
toilette which replaced the gorgeous Venetian costume she had taken
off, the bagarino which carried her and Ludovico would infallibly
have overtaken the young artist. As it was, however, having more
than half-an-hour's start of it, she reached the church before they
came within sight of it.
Little Paolina had felt rather nervous when first stepping into the
cool fresh morning air from the door of the lodging she occupied.
Pages:
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38