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ARIADNE. 123But for mypromise to her lie would have diedwith the moment that the moonlight fell on hisfair, serene, cold features, and revealed them tome.Ileft my errand undone, and waited by thepalace gates. It wasin the oldest part of Rome— a mighty place built out of travertine, fromgreatruins, in the middle ages by some pope;justnow its courts were alight with lamps andtorches, and up the vast stairs one could see theservingmen,allred and gold,hke strutting paroquetsstanding one above another ; no doubtthis kind of hfe must be fine to lead, andIdaresaypeople hi the midst of it very soon forget —unless they wish very much to remember.Istood outside the gates with sundry otherfolks, who had come there to stare at the foreignprinces and great ladies who alighted and passedup between the meninred and gold.No one noticed me; a good manyhours wentby; the people by the gates had long beforegrown tired of looking on,and had gone away;Iwas left alone, butIdid not stir; there were afret and fume of the waiting horses all around,