Page:The Italian - Radcliffe, volume 1 (1797).djvu/13

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THE

ITALIAN.

CHAP I.

"What is this secret sin; this untold tale,That art cannot extract, nor penance cleanse?"Mysterious Mother.

It was in the church of San Lorenzo at Naples, in the year 1758, that Vicentio di Vivaldi first saw Ellena Rosalba. The sweetness and fine expression of her voice attracted his attention to her figure, which had a distinguished air of delicacy and grace; but her face was concealed in her veil. So much indeed was he fascinated by the voice, that a most painful curi­osity was excited as to her countenance, which he fancied must express all the sensibility of character that the mo-dulation

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