Sorrowfully the baffled fair goes forth (a graceful picture
somewhere seen of paradise-banished Peri with pretty stooping head,
recalls itself to my mind as I write the words); sorrowfully but not
despairing,--and wiser than before.
And yet before she goes seeking fresh fields and pastures new, and
meditating new emprise, wealthy Milan shall itself equip her for the
next campaign. For much of such expedient outfit Milan can supply,
which, in remote Ravenna, might in vain be sought. There, beneath
the shadow of those marble walls, where once the sainted Borromeo
preached, the cunningest Parisian artists may be found--so rich in
corn and wine and silk are Lombard plains-modists and mercers,
corset-makers, lacemen, skilled so to clothe the limbs of beauty,
that every fold shall but display the perfect handiwork of nature,
yet add to it the further grace of art. Makers of tiny slippers and
such dainty bootlets as show forth and enhance the separate beauty
of each inch of outline of rounded ankle, arched instep, and slender
length of foot, shall lend their help. And if envious Time have
something done to blur the bloom upon the cheek, or blot the clear
transparent purity of skin,--sunt certa piacula,--there are not
wanting means for helping a mortal Diva to some of the prerogatives
of immortality in these respects.
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