She did not dare,--she did not dream to ask him the question she had so fearlessly made to Glyndon; but she felt a sudden coldness,--a sense that a barrier was yet between love and love.

"Oh, Zanoni!" she murmured, with downcast eyes, "ask me not to fly with thee; tempt me not to my shame.

Thou wouldst protect me from others.

Oh, protect me from thyself!" "Poor orphan!" said he, tenderly, "and canst thou think that I ask from thee one sacrifice,--still less the greatest that woman can give to love?
As my wife I woo thee, and by every tie, and by every vow that can hallow and endear affection.

Alas! they have belied love to thee indeed, if thou dost not know the religion that belongs to it! They who truly love would seek, for the treasure they obtain, every bond that can make it lasting and secure.