Valentine was silent; she wished to get Massetti completely under her influence before speaking to him. Motionless and statuesquely she stood, allowing the maniac to gaze his fill at her.
"Who are you, divine vision?" continued the Viscount, seeming to think himself the prey of some passing dream. "Oh! you are a spirit!--a goddess such as of old presided over the sports of the Colosseum!--perhaps Juno herself! Do not vanish from my sight, do not become a filmy cloud and dissolve in ether! Oh! speak to me, glorious apparition! Let me hear the celestial melody of your voice and die listening to its marvellous cadences!"
Valentine, humoring the caprice of the demented man, said, in the most enticing tone she could assume: "You have guessed aright, oh! mortal! I am, indeed, Juno, the Queen of the goddesses of Mount Olympus! By the direct command of Jupiter I have sought you out this night!"
She came closer to him and took his hand. He raised hers to his lips and devotedly kissed it. Then he gazed into her eyes like one entranced. Woman's wit and tenderness had triumphed. The maniac whom even the mention of Zuleika's name had failed to touch was completely under Mme. Morrel's influence. She had subdued him; she could do with him as she wished.
"A miracle! a miracle!" cried both the cicerones simultaneously. "The Blessed Virgin be praised!"
Maximilian was not less astonished than the guides, but with his astonishment joy and gratitude were mingled--joy that Giovanni was now tractable and gratitude to his noble and fearless wife who had effected the wondrous transformation. He said to himself that Valentine was, indeed, an enchantress, but a modern Circe, who, unlike her ancient prototype, employed her spells and fascinations to promote good, results. He glanced at Valentine, with a smile of encouragement and approbation, eagerly waiting for the next step she should take, for the next audacious effort she should essay.
Giovanni made no reply to Valentine's fantastic speech, and, after preserving silence for an instant, she resumed: "I am here for your welfare, to aid you in your overwhelming misfortunes!"
"Ah! yes; I have misfortunes, but I had forgotten them," said the young man, musingly.
"I am sent to relieve you of them," continued Valentine. Then, throwing into her voice its most persuasive quality, she added, fixing a magnetic gaze upon the Viscount: "My mission is to take charge of you, to see that you are restored to health and happiness. Come with me!"
"I will follow you, sweet vision, to the very end of the earth!" said Giovanni, enthusiastically.
Valentine hastily beckoned to her husband; he hurried to her and she whispered in his ear: "Send one of the guides for a coupé. We must not lose a single moment. Poor Massetti will follow me as a dog follows its master! While he is under my influence it is imperative that he be removed to an asylum where he can be properly looked after and if possible cured. No doubt the guides can tell you of such an institution. Use the utmost dispatch, Maximilian!"