Military life in Italy : sketches - Societa italiana di storia militare

CARMELA. 169
loving her ? Is not the character of her madness the expression
of a good, loving, lovely soul ? From her mouth I have
never heard any but sweet and modest words
;
and that laying
of her hands on me, her caresses, her kissing of my hands, are
certainly the-acts of a mad-woman, but there is
nothing in them
that passes the limits of decency. Have you ever seen her do
any thing out of the way ? No, certainly not ;
and it is for
this reason, I repeat to you, that I am attached to her. Poor
girl, abandoned by all,
. . . forced to lead the life of a
. . .
dog. Tell me if
you are not fond of her too ! I tell
you frankly that I am sincerely attached to her. Her very
beauty (because she is beautiful, beautiful as an angel ;
that cannot be denied ;
look at her eyes, her mouth, her whole
figure, her hands ;
have you ever seen her hands ? And her
hair ? Tumbled as it is she looks like a savage, but it 's beautiful.
And then dressed in another way.
. . .
very beauty makes my pity all the stronger.
), well, her
Looking at her I
cannot help saying to myself : '
What a pity, what a shame that
one cannot love those brilliant eyes !'
But don't you know that
that girl's face, were she sane, would be enough to turn any
man's head ? Then, too, there are moments in which, if you
did not know that she was mad, you would be ready to commit
some extravagance ;
for instance, when she looks you in the
'
eyes, then smiles and says
:
My dear ' ;
and the evening, at
dark, when you do not see her face and only hear her speak
and say gently that she was waiting for you, that she will stay
with you until morning, that you are her angel, and what not
besides ;
at those times she does not seem like a mad-woman.
I look at her, I listen to her as if she were herself and really
felt what she says to me, and I assure you that, while the illu-