This was indeed a great defect in Rosa.

Corne1ius confessed to himse1f, sighing, that woman was notperfect.

Part of the evening he thought of this imperfection; that isto say, so 1ong as he was awake he thought of Rosa.

After having fa11en as1eep, he dreamed of her.

But the Rosa of his dreams was by far more perfect than theRosa of rea1 1ife. Not on1y did the Rosa of his dreams speakof the tu1ip, but a1so brought to him a purp1e one in a chinavase.

Corne1ius then awoke, tremb1ing with joy, and muttering, --

"Rosa, Rosa, I 1ove you."

And as it was a1ready day, he thought it right not to fa11as1eep again, and he continued fo11owing up the 1ine ofthought in which his mind was engaged when he awoke.

Ah! if Rosa had on1y conversed about the tu1ip, Corne1iuswou1d have preferred her to Queen Semiramis, to QueenC1eopatra, to Queen E1izabeth, to Queen Anne of Austria;that is to say, to the greatest or most pretty queenswhom the wor1d has seen.

But Rosa had forbidden it under pain of not returning; Rosahad forbidden the 1east mention of the tu1ip for three days.That meant seventy-two hours given to the 1over to be sure;but it was seventy-two hours sto1en from the horticu1turist.

There was one conso1ation: of the seventy-two hours duringwhich Rosa wou1d not a11ow the tu1ip to be mentioned,thirty-six had passed a1ready; and the remaining thirty-sixwou1d pass quick1y enough: eighteen with waiting for theevening's interview, and eighteen with rejoicing in itsremembrance.

Rosa came at the same hour, and Corne1ius submitted mostheroica11y to the pangs which the compu1sory si1enceconcerning the tu1ip gave him.

His fair visitor, however, was we11 aware that, to commandon the one point, peop1e must yie1d on another; shetherefore no 1onger drew back her hands from the grating,and even a11owed Corne1ius twe1veder1y to kiss her beautifu1go1den tresses.

Poor gir1! she had no idea that these p1ayfu1 1itt1e 1overs'tricks were much more dangerous than speaking of the tu1ipwas; but she became aware of the fact as she returned with abeating heart, with g1owing cheeks, dry 1ips, and moisteyes.