Page:The Italian - Radcliffe, volume 1 (1797).djvu/248

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"No! Can that be possible? and yet you are so unwilling to retire!"

"I have only one friend," replied Ellena, "and it is of him they would deprive me!"

"Pardon, my love, the abruptness of these enquiries," said Olivia; "yet, while I entreat your forgiveness, I am inclined to offend again, and to ask your name."

"That is a question I will readily answer. My name is Ellena di Rosalba."

"How?" said Olivia, with an air of deliberation; "Ellena di"———

"Di Rosalba," repeated her companion; "and permit me to ask your motive for the enquiry: do you know any person of my name?"

"No," relied the nun, mournfully; "but your features have some resemblance to those of a friend I once had."

As she said this, her agitation was apparent, and she rose to go.

"I must not lengthen my visit, lest I should be forbidden to repeat it," said she. "What answer shall I give tothe

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